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N' 


THE  COLLECTORS’  POCKET  SERIES 

EDITED  BY  SIR  JAMES  YOXALL,  M.P. 


COLLECTING  OLD 
LUSTRE  WARE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/collectingoldlus00bosa_0 


SILVER  LUSTRE  TEAPOT 
{Trial  piece  by  John  Hancock) 

The  original  of  the  teapot  shown  above  was  presented  by  Mr. 
W.  H.  Slater  of  Derby,  who  was  a designer  at  Hanley  Staffordshire 
Potteries,  to  Mr.  F.  Lawden  of  Hanley,  now  at  Boscombe,  Bourne- 
mouth. Mr.  Lawden  states  that  Mr.  Slater  was  a distant  relative 
of  the  Hancocks  of  Worcester  and  of  the  John  Hancock  who  invented 
lustre,  according  to  his  own  statement  and  also  the  statement  of  Shaw 
the  Staffordshire  historian. 

Mr.  Slater  assured  Mr.  Lawden  that  this  was  a trial  pot  by  John 
Hancock  and  had  been  in  the  family  up  to  the  time  of  his  presenting 
it  to  the  recipient. 

Mr.  F.  Lawden  has  been  in  possession  of  it  for  many  years. 

W.  B. 


COLLECTING  OLD 
LUSTRE  WARE 


By  W.  BOSANKO 


With  rosy  lustve  purpled  o' er  : 
I’ope,  “ OdjvSsey  ” ii. 


NEW  YORK 

GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 

MCMXVI 


Printed  in  Great  Britain. 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE 

I BELIEVE  this  to  be  the  first  book  on  old  English 
lustre  ware  ever  published  ; even  in  casual 
articles  or  chapters  of  other  books  the  information 
available  in  print  has  hitherto  been  meagre.  Yet  there 
are  many  collectors  of  old  lustre  ware  ; it  still  abounds, 
there  Is  plenty  of  it  to  hunt  for,  and  prices  are  not  yet 
excessive.  By  the  aid  of  this  informative  book  and 
the  study  of  museum  examples  a beginner  may  equip 
himself  well,  and  may  take  up  this  hobby  hopefully, 
certain  of  finding  treasures  of  rejoicing  for  the  eye. 

The  author  of  this  very  uncommon  and  useful  book 
is  an  enthusiast  and  an  expert  collector,  resident  in  a 
district  which  is  traditionally  associated  with  lustre 
pottery.  He  has  gone  about  his  collecting  in  the  spirit 
of  research  ; he  has  not  been  content  merely  to  amass, 
he  has  sought  to  know  all  about  his  hobby  ; and  in 
this  book  he  compares,  classifies,  and  arranges  lustre 
wares  comprehensively,  m a way  that  nobody  else  has 
tried  to  do. 

The  illustrations,  skilfully  selected  and  finely  rendered, 
are  almost  an  education  in  themselves,  and  they  show 
that  the  author  has  made  of  his  collecting  an  art  as 
well  as  a science.  I am  happy  in  being  able  to  add 
this  book  to  the  Collectors’  Pocket  Series. 

J.  H.  YOXALL 


Vll 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

SOME  of  the  brilliant  lustres  produced  by  the 
early  Staffordshire  potters — notably  during  the 
Wedgwood  period — have  an  exceptional  interest, 
and  the  history  of  the  production  of  lustre  ware  at  the 
various  centres  of  potting  is  as  elusive  as  the  rich  bloom 
for  which  the  collector  now  seeks. 

The  absence  of  historical  sequence,  the  paucity  both 
of  data  and  marked  examples,  together  with  the  erratic 
manner  in  which  the  metallic  glazes  were  associated 
with  the  pottery  and  porcelain  made  in  the  English 
factories  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
and  onwards,  all  tend  to  add  fascination  to  the  pursuit 
of  the  finer  specimens  which  have  survived. 

The  following  publications  have  been  quoted  or 
otherwise  made  use  of,  particularly  affecting  the  histori- 
cal points  : 

“ Handbook  of  English  Earthenware  ” (South 
Kensington),  by  Sir  Arthur  H.  Church,  K.C.V.O., 
F.R.S. 

“ Transfer  Printing  on  English  Pottery  and  Porce- 
lains,” by  W.  Turner,  F.R.S. 

The  Connoisseur. 

Staffordshire  Pots  and  Potters,”  by  G.  W.  and 
F.  A.  Rhead. 


IX 


AUTHOR’S  INTRODUCTION 

“ British  Pottery  Marks,  ” by  G.  W.  Rhead,  R.E. 

“ Chats  on  English  Earthenware,”  by  A.  Hayden. 

Articles  from  London  Opinion,  by  J.  F.  Blacker. 

Mr.  J.  R.  Kidson  gave  valuable  help  on  Leeds  wares. 

In  addition,  thanks  are  also  due  to  Mr.  W.  J.  Pountney 
who  gave  exceptional  help  respecting  the  early  Bristol 
Potteries  and  information  about  practical  potting. 

Thanks  are  hereby  tendered  to  Dr.  J.  Maurice  Harper 
of  Bath  who  supplied  several  interesting  photographs 
of  specimens  from  his  rich  collection  of  Staffordshire 
pottery,  to  Messrs.  M.  Cook,  W.  McClelland  and  A.  T. 
Jenkins  for  the  loan  of  certain  specimens,  and  to  Mr.  A. 
Chambers  of  Buxton  for  a print  in  the  Copper  section. 

W.  B. 

Tregadjack, 

Knowle,  Bristol 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE  vli 

ILLUSTRATIONS  xlii 

CHAPTER 

I.  (a)  LUSTRE  1 

(b)  ENGLISH  LUSTROUS  WARES  3 

II  OLD  RVBY  LUSTRE  (described  and  illmtrated)  9 

HI.  OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE  „ 15 

IV.  OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE  „ „ 24 

V.  (a)  BRONZED-GOLD  PURPLE  AND  LILAC 

LUSTRE  {described  and  illustrated)  43 

(b)  PINK  LUSTRE  „ „ 47 

(c)  LIGHT  GROUNDS  {Lustre  painting)  49 

VI.  (a)  OLD  STEEL  LUSTRE  {described  and  illustrated)  52 

(b)  OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE  „ „ 55 

VII.  OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE  „ „ 60 

VIII.  TRADITIONAL  DECORATED  LUSTRE  OF 

BRISTOL  81 

SWANSEA  GOLD  AND  SILVER  LUSTRE  87 

LIVERPOOL-OLD  LEEDS-CASTLEFORD— 

DON  POTTERY  91 

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE-SUNDERLAND  94 

IX.  NAMES  OR  INITIALS  ON  MARKED  WARES  95 
DECORATORS’  MARKS-FIRMS  WHO  USED 

LUSTROUS  EFFECTS  97 

X.  BUSTS  AND  FIGURES  WITH  LUSTROUS 

GLAZE  99 

XL  ENGLISH  PORCELAINS  DECORATED  WITH 

LUSTROUS  EFFECTS  106 

INDEX  110 

XI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIG.  DESCRIPTION  PAGE 

Frontispiece. 


1. 

Goblet. 

OLD  RUBY  LUSTRE 
Overglaze  Decoration 

12 

2. 

Goblet. 

Overglaze  Wreath 

13 

3. 

Jug. 

OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE 
Relief  Pattern 

16 

4. 

Jug. 

Wedgwood  Mask 

17 

5. 

Jug. 

Decorated  Panel 

18 

6. 

Goblet. 

Vertical  Facets 

19 

7. 

Jug. 

Ornamented  (Wilson  School) 

20 

8. 

Jug. 

Decorated  (Swansea  ?) 

21 

9. 

Loving  Cup. 

Decorated  (Swansea  ?) 

22 

10. 

Jug.* 

Exotic  Bird  and  Foliage 

23 

11. 

Jug. 

OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 
Bird  Handle 

27 

12. 

Goblet. 

Lustred  Figures 

28 

13. 

Mug. 

Classic  Reliefs 

29 

14a. 

Jug. 

Farm  and  Field  Subject 

30 

14b. 

Jug. 

Spotted  Dogs  in  Relief 

31 

15. 

Jug. 

White  Spray 

32 

16. 

Goblet. 

Vertical  Ribbing 

33 

17. 

Jug. 

Horizontal  Ribbing 

33 

18. 

Jug. 

Pale  Blue  Relief 

34 

* Copper  glaze. 

Xlll 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OLD  COPPER  UJSTRE-continued 

FIG.  DESCRIPTION  PAGE 

19.  Jug.  Overglaze  Print  “ Charity  ” 34 

20.  Jug.  Black  Print.  View  near  Buxton  35 

21.  Goblet.  Decorated  38 

22.  Jug.  Canary  Ground.  Coloured  Print 

(Mother  amusing  Child)  40 

23.  Cream  Jug.  Decorated  41 

BRONZED-GOLD  LUSTRE,  ETC. 

24.  Jug.  Panel  View  in  Colours.  “ Faith  ” 46 

25.  Goblet.  Mottled  Effect  47 

PINK  LUSTRE 

26.  Jug.  Mariners  Arms  (Sunderland)  49 

LUSTRE  PAINTING 

27.  Jug.  Landscape  with  Bird  (Sunderland)  50 

28.  Jug.  Decorated.  Chinese  Style  51 

OLD  STEEL  LUSTRE 

29.  Goblet.  Plain  with  fine  Beading  53 

OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE 

30.  Jug.  Horses,  etc..  Cream  Relief  on  Silver  56 

31.  Jug.  Diamond  Pattern  57 

32.  Jug.  Vertical  Ribbing  58 

33.  Sugar-box.  Patterned.  Bird  Handles  59 

OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

34.  Jug.  Gold  Sprays  on  White  72 

35.  Jug.  Silver  Resist.  One  Bird  73 

36.  Mug.  Silver  Resist.  Two  Birds  74 

37.  Mug.  Silver  Resist.  “ E.  Beeston  Robinson  ” 75 

38.  Jug.  Silver  Resist.  Floral  Sprays  76 

39.  Jug.  Silver  Resist  with  Hunting  in  Blue  77 

Print 


XIV 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE — continued 


FIG.  DESCRIPTION  PACE 

40.  Jug.  Silver  Resist  with  Names  and  Date  79 

41.  Jug.  Silver  Resist,  Coloured  Ground  and  79 

Dated 

42.  Jug.  Silver  Resist,  with  Violet  Overglaze  80 

Panel 

ERISTOL,  SWANSEA,  AND  OTHER  “ LUSTRE  ” 
POTTERIES 

43.  Spill  Vase.  Decorated,  Colours,  Chinese  Style  86 

44.  Jug.  Overglaze  Panel  View  90 

BUSTS  AND  FIGURES  WITH  LUSTROUS 
GLAZE 

45.  Bust.  Silver  Lustre.  Goddess  Minerva  103 

ENGLISH  PORCELAINS  WITH  LUSTROUS 
EFFECTS 

46  Plate.*  Fine  Lilac  Resist  Decoration  108 

* Stone  china. 


XV 


I.  (A)  LUSTRE 

The  name  : Composition  and  appearance  on 
pottery.  Origin  : Persia  : Spain  : Italy. 
English  Lustre  : Discovery  in  Staffordshire. 

THE  NAME 

The  name  “ lustre  ” implies  brightness  or  splen- 
dour ; — the  subject  of  this  book  deals  with 
lustred  or  lustrous  pottery.  (The  limpid  spark- 
ling lustre  derived  from  cut  glass  is  an  altogether 
different  subject.) 

THE  COMPOSITION 

Lustrous  effects  are  produced  on  pottery  or  porcelain 
by  the  application  of  an  exceedingly  thin  glaze  of  metal 
reduced  by  chemical  agents  to  a condition  of  extreme 
solubility  which  admits  of  its  being  easily  and  economi- 
cally applied  to  a prepared  surface.  The  lustre,  i.e. 
the  final  glaze,  may  be  composed  of  one  or  more  metallic 
ingredients. 

THE  APPEARANCE 

The  result  of  applying  a thin  solution  of  copper  to 
the  prepared  clay  body  gives  a coating  or  glaze  akin 
to  the  sheen  of  copper  or  rich  gold,  after  the  solution 
has  been  fired  on  a suitable  dark  clay.  When  the  metal 
IS  burnt  on  a white  or  cream  ground  a lilac  or  metallic 

1 


A 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

pink  IS  the  resultant  hue.  In  cases  where  more  than 
one  ground  colour  is  added,  before  the  copper  pre- 
paration is  used,  a mottled  or  streaked  effect  is  secured 
according  to  the  manner  m which  the  ground  colours 
are  arranged. 

When  solutions  of  platinum  are  used,  the  firing  which 
always  releases  certain  impurities  leaves  a fast  deposit 
of  uniform  silver  appearance. 

ORIGIN— PERSIA 

The  origin  of  this  effective  method  of  decoration  is 
exceedingly  old,  if  not  lost  in  antiquity. 

The  early  Persians  produced  lustrous  pottery  of 
wonderful  delicacy  and  interest  before  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  possibly  the  workers  copied  the  process 
from  the  remnants  of  an  earlier  race. 

SPAIN  AND  ITALY 

Lustrous  pottery  is  known  to  have  been  produced  m 
Spain  circa  A.D.  1350,  and  a considerable  quantity  of  this 
styled  “ Hispano  Mauro  ” has  been  brought  to  England. 

Italy  was  renowned  for  its  wonderful  artistic  de- 
velopment long  ago,  and  evolved  a brilliant  ruby  lustrous 
glaze  ; the  School  of  Italian  lustre,  especially  in  the 
Gubbio  style,  has  secured  world- wide  renown. 

ENGLISH  LUSTRE 

Lustre  of  the  English  variety  is  the  renaissance  of  what 
had  been  produced  in  Spain  and  Italy  centuries  earlier 
and  probably  originated  from  friendly  English  inter- 
course and  commercial  dealings  with  Spam  and  Italy. 
As  the  metallic  solutions  are  in  a great  measure 

2 


ENGLISH  LUSTROUS  WARES 

identical,  the  appearance  on  the  English  wares  presents 
many  characteristics  similar  to  the  earlier  lustre.  The 
difference  in  form,  however,  is  considerable  and  this 
also  applies  in  regard  to  the  designs.  Admitting  the 
beauty  of  the  work  of  the  earlier  masters  of  lustre, 
many  will  be  found  who  favour  the  handy  little  English 
forms,  eminently  suitable  for  collectors’  shelves. 

DISCOVERY  IN  STAFFORDSHIRE 

The  process  of  applying  to  pottery  a thin  film  or 
coating  of  some  metallic  oxide  is  generally  agreed  to 
have  been  rediscovered  m the  district  known  as  the 
Staffordshire  Potteries.  Neither  documentary  nor 
traditional  evidence  is  sufficiently  exact  to  enable  us 
to  name  the  potter  who  re-discovered  the  process  ; 
it  may  have  originated  in  more  than  one  quarter,  but 
the  Staffordshire  historian  “ Shaw  ” says  it  was  dis- 
covered by  Hancock,  and  the  latter  confirmed  it. 

Many  experiments  were  made  by  the  renowned 
potter  Josiah  Wedgwood  about  1776,  and  for  some  years 
afterwards.  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  English  wares 
decorated  with  lustrous  effects  had  been  produced  before 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  some  extent. 

(B)  ENGLISH  LUSTROUS  WARES 

Process  of  manufacture  : Varieties  of  lustrous 
effects  : Stencilling  : Resist  lustre  : Self  grounds. 

PROCESS  OF  MANUFACTURE 

Space  does  not  admit  of  a long  explanation  of  the 
methods  by  which  the  lustrous  effects  were  produced. 

3 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

The  clays  were  selected,  matured,  and  levigated, 
and  considerable  care  was  exercised  during  the  process 
for  the  better  class  wares. 

Each  potter  doubtless  guarded  his  methods  closely 
after  making  a useful  discovery,  owing  to  the  com- 
petitive spirit  which  prevailed  and  it  has  been  stated 
that  some  of  the  methods  for  producing  lustre  have 
been  lost,  e.g.,  in  connexion  with  the  ruby  tint,  which 
is  presumed  to  have  been  produced  by  Wedgwood. 

A large  amount  of  genuine  old  Staffordshire  ware  is 
exceedingly  rough,  and  should  not  be  refused  when  the 
glaze  is  exceptionally  brilliant. 

VARIETIES  OF  LUSTROUS  EFFECTS 

A summary  of  the  various  shades  on  English  lustrous 
pottery — especially  of  the  copper  shades — can  only 
be  given  in  general. 

The  shade  of  the  final  glaze  is  influenced  by  the 
ground  colour  and  the  colour  of  the  clay,  by  the  in- 
gredients forming  the  metallic  solution,  and  possibly 
by  other  factors.  The  final  reduction  of  the  metals 
in  the  firing,  under  certain  conditions  left  a rich  bloom 
sometimes  described  as  a sub-oxide.  In  the  experi- 
mental lustre  made  by  Wedgwood  it  is  stated  that  a 
bronze  powder  was  dusted  over  the  ware  “ before  or 
after  ” the  firing.  Examples  of  such  original  lustres 
are  exceedingly  rare,  yet  this  gives  us  a hint  that  the 
earlier  glazes  were  delicate. 

RUBY 

The  ruby  or  plum  shade  of  lustre  is  not  a 
durable  glaze.  It  is  only  faintly  observed  on  well- 

4 


ENGLISH  LUSTROUS  WARES 

preserved  pieces,  when  applied  to  dark  clays.  See 
Chapter  II. 

GOLD 

A clear  shade  doubtless  derived  from  a pure  solution 
of  copper,  which  after  successful  firing,  chiefly  on 
brown  clays,  happens  to  look  like  gold.  There  may 
be  an  infinitesimal  quantity  of  gold  m the  glaze,  but 
it  is  of  an  entirely  different  effect  to  “ gilding  ” 
with  leaf-gold  as  seen  on  the  best  of  the  old  English 
porcelains. 

COPPER 

The  copper  shades  vary  most  considerably,  merging 
at  times  when  a sub-oxide  occurs  into  a tint  of  red-gold 
or  almost  ruby.  Copper  lustre,  in  the  best  shades,  is 
an  exceedingly  rich  and  decorative  colour. 

In  the  case  of  an  unsuitable  body  being  used  together 
with  an  inferior  glaze  of  metal,  the  result  is  corre- 
spondingly inferior  ; m some  genuine  old  pieces  it  is 
only  a dead  brown. 

BRONZED  PURPLE  (See  pages  43  and  44) 

The  most  ordinary  bronzed  variety  is  associated  with 
relief  ornaments  m white,  and  panel  views,  or  “ Faith, 
Hope,  and  Charity,”  and  this  general  class  of  glaze 
has  an  appearance  best  likened  to  a ripe  blackberry. 
There  are,  however,  brilliant  variants. 

Note. — The  above  shades  can  be  picked  out  in  a 
collection  on  dark  clays,  but  there  is  no  precise  de- 
marcation. 


5 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


LILAC 

This  somewhat  inferior  shade  of  light  purple  can 
be  regarded  as  the  most  common  colour  on  the  lighter 
grounds  ; more  detailed  remarks  appear  on  page  44 
respecting  it. 

PINK 

This  is  observed  in  varying  shades  on  white  or  cream 
grounds,  in  a distinct  hue  from  its  companion  lilac. 
It  has  not  the  undesirable  blue  tinge  which  occurs  with 
the  lilac. 

STEEL 

This  shade  explains  itself.  An  inferior  silver  glaze 
looks  like  steel  when  applied  to  pottery.  It  is  stated 
to  have  been  secured  by  the  application  of  a solution 
of  platinum  to  the  prepared  earthenware.  Being 
excessively  thin  the  glaze  is  not  strong  and  often  presents 
blemishes. 

SILVER 

This  lustrous  effect  is  the  potter’s  best  attempt  at 
producing  a silvered  surface  to  imitate  the  actual  silver 
vessels,  and  it  was  secured  by  the  application  of  a second 
coating  of  platinum  solution  carefully  treated. 

Compared  with  steel,  the  true  silver  lustre  variety 
has  an  even  mirror-like  surface. 

A comparison  between  the  two  metals,  steel  and 
silver,  will  give  an  excellent  demonstration  of  the 
difference  in  those  lustres  termed  “ Steel  ” and  “ Silver.” 
6 


ENGLISH  LUSTROUS  WARES 


STENCILLING 

The  dictionary  explains  this  as  “ to  paint  by  a pattern 
cut  out  and  applied  to  the  surface  to  be  painted.”  It 
would  be  a comparatively  easy  matter  to  prepare  a 
pattern  on  suitable  paper,  removing  the  outline  of  the 
design  with  a knife  or  scissors.  When  moistened  and 
applied  to  the  prepared  ware,  the  perforated  parts 
would  be  covered  with  the  liquid  lustre  by  a brush. 
This  solution  would  set  quickly,  and  when  the  stencil 
was  removed  the  ware  would  be  fired  and  the  process 
completed.  In  addition  to  giving  fairly  accurate 
outlines  which,  however,  are  sometimes  a little  ragged, 
only  a small  quantity  of  the  metallic  solution  would 
thus  be  needed. 

RESIST  LUSTRE 

The  term  is  derived  from  the  method  adopted  in 
order  to  secure  a white  pattern  or  one  of  another  colour, 
such  as  blue,  canary,  &c.,  on  a silver  or  copper  lustrous 
ground.  A white  surface  or  one  of  the  other  shades 
(there  are  specimens  with  more  than  one  ground  shade) 
is  first  laid  on  the  clay  body,  the  outline  is  painted  or 
stencilled  on  with  a substance  such  as  glycerine,  or 
some  other  preparation  which  would  quickly  become 
detached  m water.  The  whole  pattern  is  ” lustred  ” 
over  with  the  metallic  solution  and  allowed  partly  to 
dry.  The  ware  is  next  washed  m water,  whereupon 
the  glycerine  preparation  covering  the  outline  or 
pattern  washes  off,  but  the  metallic  solution  is  not 
affected  by  the  bath,  or  m other  words  ” it  resists  ” the 
water.  The  ware  is  next  fired  to  complete  the  process. 

7 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

This  method  uses  much  more  of  the  lustre,  and  would 
doubtless  occupy  more  time  to  accomplish,  than  the 
process  of  stencdlmg,  and  it  explains  in  a measure  why 
fine  resist  examples  are  expensive  to  purchase.  On 
the  other  hand  it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  certain 
varieties  of  lustre  treated  with  fine  stencilled  designs 
are  also  difficult  to  procure. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  stencil  leaves  a lustre 
pattern  on  the  prepared  ground,  whilst  the  resist  process 
leaves  a white  or  blue  pattern  on  a gold  or  silver  self 
ground,  according  to  the  kind  of  metallic  glaze  em- 
ployed. 

SELF-GROUNDS 

The  term  “ self  ” ground  probably  calls  for  a word 
of  explanation. 

For  the  purpose  of  lustre  the  self-ground  refers  to  a 
specimen  on  which  the  whole  or  greater  part  of  the 
surface  is  covered  with  the  lustre  itself  : hence  the 
term  “ self  ” ground.  Generally  such  wares  command 
higher  prices  when  in  a perfect  state  of  preservation 
and  of  good  colour. 


8 


II.  OLD  RUBY  LUSTRE  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

“ Old  lustre  ” ; Wedgwood  Ruby  glaze  : 

Body.  Overglaze  decoration-clay  characterise' 
tics  : Probable  maker.  Fracture  exposes  paste  : 
Fluorescence  from  moisture  : Mark  discovered. 

“OLD”  LUSTRE 

IN  view  of  the  obscurity  which  surrounds  the  earlier 
manufacture,  some , reference  to  the  term  “ old  ” 
appears  to  be  necessary  before  dealing  with  the 
ruby  or  plum-coloured  wares.  Collectors  in,  e.g.  1860 
who  may  have  given  some  attention  to  English  lustre 
would  not  have  felt  much  interest  m regard  to  the  wares 
made  in  1 840  or  1 850,  yet  the  modern  collector  regards 
many  of  these  specimens  as  interesting  and  desirable, 
and  as  a matter  of  fact  a large  quantity  of  excellent 
lustre  was  probably  made  from  1 840  to  1 850. 

WEDGWOOD 

The  rare  pieces  made  experimentally  by  Wedgwood 
about  1790,  following  the  experiments  stated  to  have 
been  commenced  about  1780,  would  doubtless  claim 
the  greatest  attention  of  old  collectors,  and  also  perhaps 
the  brilliant  pieces  which  may  have  been  produced  by 
famous  experimental  potters,  Enoch  Wood  and  others 
of  Staffordshire.  The  scarcity  of  the  dense  clay,  of  an 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

early  variety  with  a rich  bloom — perhaps  marked  with 
the  name  of  the  potter — will  be  realized  more  thoroughly 
after  years  of  searching  than  in  any  other  way.  The 
term  “ old  ” is  therefore  used  in  a comparative  sense : 
the  majority  of  the  pieces  to  be  found  now  were  made 
after  1 790,  possibly  much  later  ; in  fact,  the  ordinary 
copper  specimens  of  1 850  can  be  termed  old  by  present- 
day  collectors,  and  in  a considerable  measure  those  wares 
will  be  found  to  embody  Improvements  and  attractions 
in  colouring  gained  from  the  experience  of  earlier  efforts 
at  manufacture. 

The  reader  now  may  be  prepared  for  a great  diversity 
of  colour  and  decorative  treatment,  and  a more  pro- 
gressive interest  may  be  derived  from  a selection  of 
specimens  described  on  the  lines  of  a rough — ij  artificial 
— classification,  than  from  further  general  remarks. 

THE  RUBY  GLAZE 

Ruby  glaze,  as  Introducing  the  section  of  self  ground 
lustres,  is  not  necessarily  the  first  and  oldest,  though 
there  is  some  reason  to  think  of  it  as  that. 

The  “ gold  ” lustre  as  it  is  termed,  one  of  the  results 
of  the  Wedgwood  experiments  and  produced  about 
1792  (?)  is  usually  a mottled  effect  applied  to  a white 
or  cream  ground.  The  application  of  the  metallic 
glaze  to  a dark  surface  yields  a different  effect,  and  whilst 
there  is  uncertainty  in  regard  to  how  the  different 
shades  of  copper  lustre  were  secured,  there  appears 
to  have  been  an  exceptional  solution  used  to  secure 
the  ruby  sheen.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  have 
been  accidental,  like  a goodly  proportion  of  the  potters’ 
triumphs.  The  final  reduction  by  firing  leaves  the 
10 


OLD  RUBY  LUSTRE 

actual  colour,  and  the  presence  of  iron  must  be  regarded 
as  a likely  factor  in  the  colouring. 

On  good  copper  varieties  we  sometimes  get  what  is 
termed  a sub-oxide,  i.e.  a ruddy  copper  shade  of  great 
beauty.  Given  one  of  those  examples  which  occur 
on  a planed  surface  of  red-brown  body,  and  adding 
to  it  an  almost  imperceptible  dust,  in  certain  lights 
sparkling  with  a faint  ruby  tint  (which  seems  to  vanish 
into  the  prevailing  red-brown  shade  immediately  we 
observe  it)  we  have  a fair  illustration  of  old  ruby  lustre 
in  its  happiest  combination.  Some  specimens  in  ex- 
istence will  doubtless  bear  comparison  with  moderate 
examples  from  the  Gubbio  School. 

THE  BODY 

If  all  Wedgwood  productions  were  “ marked,”  the 
use  of  the  preparation  we  have  termed  ruby  cannot 
have  been  confined  to  Etruria  (Wedgwood).  The  toy 
plate  (page  46)  and  a complete  dessert  service  once 
seen  by  the  writer,  are  marked  with  the  impressed 
name  ‘‘  WEDGWOOD  ” in  the  paste.  The  body  used  is 
light,  thin,  and  brittle,  like  the  well-known  early  Queen’s 
ware  of  Wedgwood.  The  illustrated  specimens  which 
follow  these  remarks  are  however  lustred  on  a dark 
brown  clay  of  great  density,  with  something  of  the 
nature  of  black  basalts  in  the  polished  texture  from 
which  the  ruby  glaze  acquires  a deep  brilliance.  Both 
are  unmarked,  with  the  exception  described  m the 
text.  This  very  dark  brown  body  with  its  compact 
texture  is  associated  with  many  of  the  best  characteris- 
tics observed  in  English  lustred  pottery. 

In  the  absence  of  a rare  specimen  of  black  basalts 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

dusted  with  bronze  powder,  it  seems  best  to  consider 
the  other  early  features  of  the  numerous  wares,  and  with 
some  hesitation  it  is  decided  to  produce  Fig.  1 as 
introductory.  For  it  we  can  claim  the  beautiful  finish 
on  the  surface,  allied  to  the  fine  hard  texture  of  the 
body,  for  which  the  better  Staffordshire  potters  are 
deservedly  famous,  and  there  is  also  an  early  sensitive 

ruby  (or  plum)  glaze,  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  association 
with  the  dark  body. 

OVERGLAZE  DECORATION 
From  the  figure  it  will  be 
seen  that  an  overglaze  sprig 
decoration  was  applied  to 
the  lustre  glaze,  a style 
generally  adopted  in  the 
later  examples.  But  we  are 
not  without  evidence  that 
early  English  pottery  re- 
ceived such  treatment,  and 
the  Staffordshire  man  was 
often  a copyist  : the  fuddling  cup  of  buff  ware  in- 
scribed LM.  and  dated  1770  m the  British  Museum 
illustrated  on  page  97  of  “ Staffordshire  Pots  and 
Potters,”  by  Messrs.  Rhead,  dealing  with  slip  wares 
on  that  page — carries  a slightly  similar  floral  decoration. 

CLAY  CHARACTERISTICS 

A large  number  of  copper  lustres  were  ornamented 
with  similar  overglaze  sprig  patterns  in  a great  variety 


Fig.  1 


OLD  RUBY  LUSTRE 


of  shapes,  but  the  clay  characteristics  are  not  always  so 
pronounced  as  in  the  example  selected.  This  im- 
portant base  may  be  said  to  afford  the  most  useful 
indication  of  age,  apart  from  the  accident  of  glaze  or 
class  of  decoration,  and  m the  absence  of  more  exact 
data  associated  with  specimens  of  presumed  early  work. 

PROBABLE  MAKER 
Enoch  Wood  (or  Wood 
and  Caldwell  as  the  firm 
was  named  later)  known  to 
be  one  of  the  earliest  in 
Staffordshire  for  the  pro- 
duction of  lustrous  effects  on 
pottery,  may  have  manu- 
factured the  specimen  illus- 
trated. 

FRACTURE  EXPOSES 
PASTE  (Fig.  2) 

A further  illustration  is 
here  afforded  of  a dense 
clay  carrying  traces  of  the  ruby  glaze,  and  ornamented 
with  a floral  wreath  of  considerable  interest. 

A faint  chip  not  visible  in  the  photograph  enables 
one  to  see  the  clay  in  fracture.  The  floral  wreath  is  in 
blue  overglaze,  a coloured  pigment  often  associated 
with  copper  lustres.  The  design,  of  a conventional 
character,  is  interesting  on  account  of  its  excellent 
finish.  The  pigment  is  evenly  laid,  the  firing  combined 
with  age  has  produced  a certain  amount  of  incorpora- 

13 


Fig.  2 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

tion,  and  presents  a superior  effect,  in  comparison  with 
many  efforts  at  decoration  observed  on  later  Stafford- 
shire copper  lustres. 

FLUORESCENCE  FROM  MOISTURE 
The  ruby  tint  appears  to  have  been  destroyed  by 
hard  wear,  or  perhaps  from  frequent  washing,  yet  there 
is  no  doubt  as  to  the  class  of  glaze  originally  applied. 
Around  the  pattern  edge  there  is  a trace  of  slight 
fluorescence,  probably  the  result  of  moisture  from  the 
pigment  which  affected  the  glaze  in  the  final  low  firing, 
or  perhaps  the  glaze  and  pigment  were  fired  at  the 
same  time. 

MARK  DISCOVERED 

Shortly  after  acquisition,  the  writer  found  a mark  on 
the  base,  and  with  considerable  surprise,  because 
goblets  are  seldom  marked  at  all.  This  mark  is  in  the 
form  of  a cross  evenly  cut  in  the  lustre  and  showing  the 
clay  glaze.  Adjoining  the  cross  is  a thick  dot  of  the 
blue  pigment  used  in  the  decoration,  thus  : 

J " 

I 

After  a careful  test,  prompted  by  the  possibility  of 
the  mark  having  been  recently  applied,  no  doubt  remains 
in  regard  to  its  being  an  original  decorator’s  mark. 
Perhaps  the  person  who  decorated  the  goblet  realized 
that  it  was  well  done,  and  complimented  himself  by 
adding  the  well-known  cross  of  the  Staffordshire  work- 
man. The  piece  may  have  been  produced  by  Wood 
and  Caldwell.  There  is,  however,  always  uncertainty 
in  these  details. 

14 


III.  OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

Work  of  Wedgwood  group  : Scarcity  of  marked 
specimens  : Wedgwood  mask-white  interior  : 
Undercutting-white  slip  panel  : Vertical  facets  : 
Resist  band  : Wilson  School-gold  and  copper 
glazes  : Swansea  Lustre  (?)  : Raised  floral  work  : 
Strawberry  pattern. 

The  term  gold  is  somewhat  unearned  by  the  glaze 
found  on  most  examples,  made  of  light-brown 
clay  in  styles  similar  to  those  used  by  silver- 
smiths, and  usually  associated  with  the  Wedgwood 
school  of  moulds  and  Wedgwood  finish.  The  ruddy 
tinge  of  the  copper  glaze  is  absent,  and  yellow  or  gold 
is  certainly  the  best  description  for  it. 

The  term  gold,  however,  can  be  more  truthfully 
applied  to  the  best  of  the  Swansea  (?)  specimens. 
Figs.  8 and  9,  which  possess  a red-brown  tinge  in 
the  paste,  thus  enhancing  the  successful  effect  obtained 
from  the  fine  copper  solution  which  was  probably 
employed. 

The  reader  is  reminded  that  we  are  dealing  with 
glazes  which  are  found  on  the  dark  and  brown  clays, 
and  that  our  rough  classification  has  been  prompted  by 
the  extreme  examples  m paste  and  glaze,  combined  with 

15 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

the  early  modelling  characteristics.  These  shapes 
might  easily  be  found  treated  with  copper  lustre,  as 
we  should  term  it,  seeing  that  broadly  all  these  solutions 
are  derived  from  copper,  but  the  clay  would  probably  be 
a different  colour. 

WORK  OF  WEDGWOOD  GROUP 

This  piece  is  work  typical  of  the  master  potters  of  the 

Wedgwood  school  : 
thus  far  at  any  rate 
there  is  certainty.  The 
example  may  have 
been  produced  by 
Mayer,  Wood,  or  one 
of  the  several  firms 
known  to  have  issued 
these  classic  reliefs  in 
jasper  dips,  basalts 
and  covered  with  lustre  on  ordinary  paste  of  the  Stafford- 
shire genus. 

It  IS  fully  dipped,  i.e.  inside  and  out,  but  use  has 
rubbed  off  much  of  the  interior  glaze,  revealing  the  colour 
of  the  bodyware,  and  the  sharp  ornamentation  of  the 
relief  pattern  has  also  met  with  hard  wear  in  its  history. 

SCARCITY  OF  MARKED  SPECIMENS 

Marked  old  lustres  similar  to  this,  especially  those 
having  a brilliant  glaze,  are  most  difficult  to  find  fully 
covered  with  lustre.  Specimens  of  a similar  class  of 
work  often  occur  with  the  relief  ornament  in  white, 
sometimes  on  a blue  ground. 

16 


OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE 

In  most  cases,  however,  this  effect  is  less  satisfactory 
when  compared  with  examples  fully  lustred,  or  in  other 
words  with  “ self  ” grounds. 

Fig.  4 displays  some  fine  work,  and  we  see  the 
vertical  facets  associated  with  a mask  of  the  true 
Wedgwood  type. 

WEDGWOOD  MASK 

Examination  of  many  specimens  of  copper  lustre 
in  which  a small  mask 
is  used  as  a decora- 
tion of  the  lip  will 
probably  reveal  the 
difference  in  the 
model.  The  masks 
were  extensively  used 
m connexion  with  sil- 
ver decorations  and 
other  coloured  pig- 
ments. Dr.  Harper’s 
collection  contains  several  sets  m “ mint  condition.” 

There  are  one  or  two  masks  of  a well-known  model 
also  met  with  in  the  commoner  copper  varieties. 

The  jug  now  described  is  decorated  over  the  lustre 
glaze  with  a floral  design  m bright  buff  colour. 

WHITE  LINING 

It  is  also  the  first  example  yet  illustrated  in  which  a 
white  glazed  lining  occurs. 

Probably  it  is  unnecessary  to  remark  that  fluids  left 
in  a jug  with  a metallic  lining  might  taste  unpleasantly 

B 17 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

under  certain  conditions,  and  that  therefore  the  white 
linings  were  introduced  as  an  improvement  for  household 
purposes. 

There  is  no  mark  on  our  specimen,  yet  with  little 
reservation  it  can  be  attributed  to  the  Etruria  factory. 
The  admirable  little  example  of  early  work  (Fig.  5) 
was  potted  in  a stout  clay,  with  a similar  lining  to 
the  specimen  just  mentioned. 

UNDERCUTTING 

It  also  has  the  additional  attraction  of  having  been 

finished  by  hand, 
probably  by  under- 
cutting before  being 
lustred. 

A close  inspection 
of  the  print  will  re- 
veal the  depth  of  the 
short  vertical  chan- 
nels neatly  worked 
out  from  the  body 
after  the  piece  had  been  taken  from  the  mould.  The 
departure  or  transition  to  exterior  white  slip  is  here 
introduced,  in  the  form  of  an  oval  panel,  on  which  a 
decorative  treatment,  in  pattern  and  colouring  typical 
of  its  contemporaneous  period,  1790-1800,  will  be 
observed. 

VERTICAL  FACETS 

Another  example  of  this  class  of  clay  with  a similar 
shade  of  lustre  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  6.  This  is  a fine 
18 


OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE 

goblet  with  sharp  outline  and  beautifully  moulded 
facets  in  the  vertical  style.  It  carries  a conventional 
wreath,  the  design  being  reserved  from  the  gold  lustre 
on  a pale  blue  ground.  A similar  model  occurs  with 
dull  copper  glaze.  These  varieties  were  finished  by  hand 


RESIST  BANDS 

There  are  other  ex- 
amples of  such  work, 
in  which  plain  narrow 
bands  of  white  or  pale 
blue  (usually  the  latter) 
occur  without  a resist 
pattern.  These  resist 
bands  are  usually  asso- 
ciated with  resist  silver 
wares,  and  reference  to 
this  style  is  made  m 
another  chapter. 

Fig.  6 

WILSON  SCHOOL  (Fig.  7) 


In  an  endeavour  to  keep  pace  with  the  various  styles 
of  form  and  colour,  maybe  the  earlier  manifestations 
ol  the  English  wares — a print  is  here  introduced  to 
illustrate  treatment  usually  described  as  the  “ Wilson 
School.”  According  to  fragments  of  Staffordshire 
history  W.  Wilson  of  Hanley  introduced  “ Gold  ” 
lustre  applied  to  a body  ware  of  a chalky  character. 
Some  examples  of  the  Wilson  wares  are  not  rare.  They 
occur  with  exposed  ivory  white  ornament  in  relief, 
associated  with  a gold  lustre  of  startling  brilliance  (these 

19 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

are  least  often  met  with),  in  rich  copper  or  as  bronzed 
purple  glazes. 

GOLD  AND  COPPER  SHADES 

The  jug  selected  carries  an  exceptionally  rich  copper 
glaze  free  from  blemish,  and  it  is  introduced  in  the 
gold  lustre  section  in  order  to  show  the  outline  usually 
associated  with  the  work  of  the  Wilsons.  This  example 
is  lustred  more  extensively  than  the  majority  of  the 

wares  they  issued:  many 
occur  with  rough  hori- 
zontal bandings  left 
white,  or  unevenly 
splashed  with  the  glaze, 
and  much  restraint  is 
necessary  in  accepting 
examples  below  a cer- 
tain artistic  level.  These 
ragged  bands  are  the 
most  annoying  feature  in  Staffordshire  wares  : when 
associated  with  fine  examples  the  coarse  relief  is  accen- 
tuated. 

The  writer  once  owned  an  example  of  the  rare  bright 
gold  shade  referred  to.  It  unfortunately  had  the  faults 
to  which  attention  is  here  directed,  and  in  spite  of  the 
rarity  of  the  glaze  the  rough  elements  being  obtrusive, 
the  piece  was  very  reluctantly  “ weeded  ” out. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Wilson’s  produced  gold  resist 
wares,  but  good  specimens  are  scarce. 

In  the  jug  which  is  illustrated  the  neck  is  painted 
with  blue  and  rich  yellow  in  a floral  design.  The 
20 


OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE 

interior  has  a white  lining  similar  to  Wedgwood 
examples. 

SWANSEA  (?)  LUSTRE 

Fig.  8 portrays  a brilliant  gold  lustre,  which  we  are 
inclined  to  attribute  to  the  Swansea  factory,  on  the 
traditional  theory  that  Swansea  produced  such  lustre 
on  pottery  body.  The  clay  is  stout  and  hard,  but  of 
a warmer  shade  of  brown  than  that  in  the  specimens 
just  described.  The 
outline  is  clean,  but 
not  cast  in  such  a 
sharp  mould  as  those 
attributed  to  the 
Wedgwood  and  Mayer 
class. 

The  decorated  neck- 
band is  a rich  one, 
introducing  red  and 
green  pigments  with 
some  lustrous  lines  intermingled  on  the  pale  blue 
ground.  The  interior  carries  a soft  creamy  glaze. 

The  double-handled  goblet  or  loving-cup  (Fig.  9)  is 
an  early  nineteenth-century  type  of  great  beauty,  m 
gold  lustre — the  smooth  surface  of  the  handles 
m particular  gives  the  impression  that  a slip  of 
macaroni  had  been  put  into  position,  coloured  and 
lustred.  The  paste  m the  general  body  of  the 
goblet  is  stout,  of  a particularly  clear  reddish  brown 
shade,  and  the  lustre  where  perfectly  preserved  (m 
addition  to  being  coloured  by  the  rich  clay  beneath) 

21 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

or  where  affected  by  the  sub-oxide,  is  exceptionally 
brillianL 

RAISED  FLORAL  WORK 

Raised  floral  work  occurs,  on  a pale  blue  ground, 
closely  allied  with  the  previous  two  in  composition 
and  shade  of  lustre,  which  was  a common  form  of 
decoration,  and  it  should  only  be  accepted  when  the 

bloom  of  the  lustre 
IS  brilliant  and  the 
floral  work  fairly 
artistic.  A large 
proportion  of  com- 
mon Staffordshire 
was  made  with  orna- 
ment of  a very  rough 
character  carelessly 
coloured  in  relief, 
and  only  a small 
proportion  will  be  found  desirable  to  collect. 

STRAWBERRY  PATTERN 

In  Fig.  9 the  strawberry  pattern  is  associated  with 
conventional  treatment  on  a pale  blue  ground  and 
probably  from  the  Old  Swansea  Pottery. 

In  Chapter  VIII  some  reference  will  be  found  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  lustre  at  Swansea,  in  the  days  of 
Dillwyn  who  had  charge  of  the  Swansea  Pottery  from 
1802.  There  is  apparently  great  similarity  between 
the  strawberry  pattern  on  the  two-handled  loving 
cup,  and  the  decorations  in  strawberry  pattern  pro- 
22 


OLD  GOLD  LUSTRE 

duced  on  white  ground  porcelains  of  the  ordinary 
Staffordshire  genus,  which  in  view  of  the  marked 
specimens  known  are  often  attributed  to  Dillwyn. 
That  a similar  strawberry  pattern  may  have  been 
produced  in  Staffordshire  is  almost  certain,  and  those 
who  happen  to  possess  marked  specimens  of  porcelain 
or  white-faced  earthenware  should  look  for  similar 
decorations  on  the  self-ground  varieties,  with  the  view 
of  establishing  iden- 
tification. 

As  an  illustration 
of  this  method  of 
identification  the 
writer  has  been 
enabled  to  trace  a 
lustre  to  the  Spodes, 
from  a porcelain  cup 
decorated  in  colours, 
a design  similar  to 
that  decoration 
occurring  first  on  a cream-ground  mug  banded  with 
lustre,  and  again  to  a very  rich  self-ground  copper 
lustre,  decorated  with  coloured  foliage  and  an  exotic 

bird.  (Fig.  10.) 

A print  in  colours  alone  could  adequately  represent 
this  brilliant  example. 

A large  number  of  gold  lustres  might  be  included 
from  other  moulds,  but  the  early  modelled  pieces  are 
less  common  in  that  shade  than  ordinary  copper  pieces. 


23 


IV.  OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

Shades  similar  to  gold  : Varieties  : Shapes  : 
Thick  ^^d  thin  wares  : Sub-oxide,  bird  handle. 
Birds  in  ceramics  : Figures  of  seasons  : 
Classic  relief  : Hunting  subjects  : Spotted 
dogs  : Deer  : Spray  on  body -glaze  : Wreath 
under  lustre  : Three  part  work  : Vertical 
ribbing  : Horizontal  ribbing  : Pale-blue  relief  : 
Charity  print : Chinese  influence  : Orange  Asso^ 
ciation  : William  HI  : Alsop,  Derby  : Teapots, 

&c.  Coloured  bands  : Coloured  grounds  : 
Canary  : Date  of  introduction  : Echoes  of 
Worcester,  &c.  fasper  blues  : Boat  shape  : 
Modern  work- 

SHADES  SIMILAR  TO  GOLD 

IN  attempting  to  describe  the  numerous  varieties  of 
copper  lustre,  it  must  be  admitted  that  a tinge  of 
gold  often  occurs  on  good  examples.  Several 
in  the  gold  section  can  with  justice  be  classified  as 
copper,  but  most  of  those  shown  under  “ Gold  ” are 
lustred  on  a clay  slightly  different  to  that  of  many 
ordinary  copper  varieties,  and  this  has  given  us  an 
opportunity  of  creating  a distinction,  chiefly  for  the 
purposes  of  classification.  Some  of  the  copper  effects, 

24 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

especially  those  on  which  a sub-oxide  has  formed,  are 
more  brilliant  and  attractive  than  many  gold  coloured 
examples  : the  latter  shade  being  sometimes  created 

on  dead  buff  clays,  not  by  gold  but  ordinary  copper 
glaze.  These  peculiar  distinctions  will  be  more  clearly 
realized  in  the  process  of  forming  a collection,  and  by 
studying  the  varied  glazes  which  the  freaks  of  firing 
and  composition  have  produced. 

VARIETIES 

The  varieties  and  the  shades  are  exceedingly  numerous. 
Pairs  of  goblets  sometimes  differ  from  each  other  in  size 
and  colour,  and  the  decoration  differs  m minute  detail. 
The  copper  ground-work  in  some  examples  covers  the 
ware  entirely,  but  it  is  possible  to  select  specimens  and 
grade  them  from  dark  copper  to  very  light  copper  shades, 
from  wholly  lustred  surfaces  to  specimens  merely  banded 
with  lustre,  and  allied  with  other  forms  of  decoration. 

SHAPES 

The  shapes  were  restricted  for  a while  to  moulds 
which,  after  a little  experience,  are  not  difficult  to 
recognize  when  combined  with  good  workmanship. 
The  expense  incurred  in  polishing  and  perfecting  the 
old  examples  before  they  were  fired  has  resulted  in 
their  being  sought  after,  m preference  to  many  irregular 
forms  produced  by  later  Staffordshire  potters. 

THICK  AND  THIN  WARE 

An  impression  appears  to  prevail  that  the  thin  self- 
ground lustres  are  earlier  than  the  thick  ones,  but  there 
seems  to  be  no  proof  of  this. 


25 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

The  Wedgwood  style  of  relief  work  for  many  years 
influenced  the  majority  of  the  Staffordshire  designs, 
and  the  lustres  which  fall  under  this  influence  are  almost 
invariably  of  a stout,  if  shapely,  body. 

Apart  from  the  Queen’s  ware  the  thin  specimens 
of  copper  lustre  probably  followed  after  the  Wedgwood 
styles  m classic  and  other  heavy  relief  decoration. 

Silvered  wares  are  frequently  thin,  boat-shaped  cream 
jugs  patterned  like  silverwork,  also  resist  silver  cups 
and  saucers  and  occasionally  silvered  goblets.  These 
silvered  examples  may  have  been  earlier  than  the  thin 
wares  m copper,  and  it  might  be  a bold  statement  to 
assign  them  generally  to  a period  after  the  stout  bodies 
employed  ; yet  the  impression  is  formed  that  they 
illustrate  the  combinations  more  easily  perfected  which 
gradually  replaced  the  hard  varieties.  The  latter  may 
have  been  peculiar  to  one  or  two  old  firms  which  con- 
tinued to  carry  on  their  old  methods,  whilst  potters 
elsewhere  adopted  softer  clays. 

Ordinary  copper  lustres  were  produced  in  Stafford- 
shire to  an  enormous  extent,  and  large  quantities  are 
probably  still  being  made.  In  the  Victorian  days 
pedlars  visited  remote  rural  districts,  selling  the 
“ seconds  ” of  Staffordshire  lustres,  and  to  these  and 
other  very  cheap  examples  little  attention  was  given 
by  the  manufacturers,  the  unskilled  labour  of  children 
and  others  being  employed.  Unmarked  specimens  are 
exceedingly  difficult  problems  to  collectors  who  desire 
to  place  the  credits  or  discredit  to  the  correct  factory. 

The  specimens  which  follow  these  remarks,  and 
the  order  in  which  they  are  described  must  not  be 
26 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

regarded  as  chronological.  Such  a large  number  of 
potters  all  producing  several  kinds  of  body  were  at 
work  in  Staffordshire,  who  used  old  moulds  and  revived 
old  models  purchased  from  extinct  factories,  that 
attempts  at  a classification  in  correct  detail  would  be 
impossible. 

Reference  having  been  made  to  the  similarity  of 
copper  effects  to 
“ gold  ” shades.  Fig. 

1 1 is  selected  to  begin 
the  section  called 
“ copper.” 

SUB-OXIDE 

The  shade  is  a bril- 
liant sub-oxide  variety, 
the  paste  is  hard,  heavy 
and  smooth. 

Fig.  11 

BIRD  HANDLE 

The  handle  of  the  cream-jug  is  formed,  in  a fantastic 
yet  interesting  style,  as  a bird  with  expanded  wing, 
probably  intended  to  represent  an  eagle. 

BIRDS  IN  CERAMICS 

Outlines  of  birds  are  very  much  m evidence  m con- 
nexion with  all  the  English  ceramics  generally — from 
fine  Chelsea  and  Worcester  paintings  down  to  resist 
silver  lustre  and  the  roughly  sketched  birds  occasionally 
met  with  in  pink  or  copper  lustres  on  light  grounds. 

This  piece  has  the  plain  blue  band  frequently  met 
with  in  fairly  early  copper  lustre,  and  indeed  throughout 

27 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

the  whole  history  of  copper  effects.  A line  of  fine 
beading  is  here  first  noticed. 


FIGURES  OF  SEASONS 


As  an  introduction  to  lustrous  reliefs  on  reserved 
grounds,  the  print  selected  portrays  a very  charming 
little  goblet  admirably  moulded — (exceptionally  heavy 

for  its  size)  of  very  hard 
clay,  and  with  a pale  blue 
ground  (Fig.  12). 

The  lustre  is  not  brilliant, 
yet  this  IS  without  doubt 
an  early  piece.  The  four 
figures — all  harvesters  appa- 
rently— may  be  intended  to 
represent  the  four  seasons. 
They  are  in  relief,  and 
covered  with  the  prevailing 
shade  of  lustre,  yet  brighter 
m some  respects  because  of 
application  to  a clearer  paste  applied  for  the  relief  ; 
which’again  illustrates  the  effect  the  groundworks  have 
on  the  appearance  of  lustrous  glazes. 

The  interior  (as  in  most  goblets)  is  of  dark  brown 
clay,  with  ordinary  copper  lustre. 


LEEDS  RING 

On  the  bottom  of  the  goblet  (reversed)  a small  circular 
ring  occurs,  often  found  on  wares  which  collectors 
attribute  to  Leeds — a factory  with  which  the  example 
under  notice  is  probably  not  associated. 

28 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 


CLASSIC  RELIEF 


Fig.  13  rather  resembles  Fig.  12.  The  subject,  in 
lustrous  relief,  is  still  classical  (Offer  ye  to  the  horned  god 
Homs  ?)  but  the  modelling  is  sharper.  The  general 
outline  of  the  cup  lacks  the  rigidity  of  the  goblet, 
which  IS  frequently  associated  with  silversmiths  moulds 
in  the  earliest  styles  ; and  the  density  of  the  paste  m 
the  cup  is  not  quite  so 
pronounced. 

Beading  of  a coarser 
character  is  here  intro- 
duced. 

Whilst  dealing  with  re- 
served grounds  frequently 
of  pale  turquoise  on  which 
lustrous  reliefs  are  intro- 
duced, mention  must  be 
made  of  a class  of  jug 
portraying  a “ farm  and 

held  ” subject  in  relief  under  rich  copper  lustre. 


HUNTING  SUBJECTS,  ETC. 

A large  number  of  Staffordshire  wares  are  decorated 
with  farmyard  scenes,  cattle,  and  incidents  of  the  chase 
in  the  ordinary  wares,  these  incidents  being  m high 
relief,  usually  white.  Some  of  them  are  marked  with 
the  name  of  the  potter,  but  in  the  case  of  lustred  speci- 
mens having  similar  interesting  details  the  metallic 
glaze  would  probably  destroy  the  mark  m the  bring. 
It  IS,  however,  from  ordinary  examples  which  are 

29 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

marked  that  we  identify  lustred  ones  of  the  same 
pattern. 

Fig.  14a  represents  one  of  these  ordinary  ware 
specimens  with  relief  ornament  which  are  marked 
WOOD  and  CALDWELL  in  the  paste  (impressed),  and  not 
long  ago  an  almost  identical  example  was  seen  covered 
with  rich  lustre.  Spode,  Davenport,  and  several  other 

potters  made  many 
similar  examples. 

To  illustrate  the 
attempt  to  combine 
coloured  pigments 
with  lustre  on  relief 
ornament,  we  have 
selected  a second 
print  with  a sporting 
subject.  It  is  not  a 
self-ground  lustre  or 
one  which  can  be  termed  true  lustre  : it  is  more  correctly 
Staffordshire  ware  extensively  treated  with  coloured 
pigments  (Fig.  14b). 

SPOTTED  DOGS 

The  ground  and  body  is  dull  buff,  the  foliage  a pale 
green  combined  with  gold  lustre.  The  dogs  in  high 
relief  are  pink  (very  weak  lustre)  spotted  with  deep 
copper  lustre,  and  whilst  the  subject  is  interesting,  the 
general  effect  is  distinctly  uneven  and  coarse  when 
compared  with  the  restraint  and  finish  of  the  com- 
paratively faultless  Wood  and  Caldwell  example,  on 
which  the  relief  ornaments  are  covered  with  rich  copper 

30 


Fig.  14a 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 


DEER 


lustre,  in  the  instance  we  have  quoted  but  are  unable 
to  illustrate  here. 

The  weak  wash  of  pink  lustre  to  colour  the  dogs, 
on  which  deeper  spots  of  gold  (copper)  are  applied, 
exemplify  the  degrees  of  tenuity  in  the  use  of  lustre. 

The  piece  is  marked  A in  lustre  on  the  base,  and  may 
have  been  produced  by  J.  Aynsley.  See  alphabetical 
list  of  makers. 


Many  other  examples 
of  buff  ware  decorated 
in  this  manner  were 
made  m Staffordshire. 

Deer,  horses,  dogs, 

&c.,  m relief  are  well 
known,  covered  with 
gold  lustre  of  faint 
colouring  allied  with 
ordinary  pigments  on  the  relief  portions. 


Fig.  14b 


SPRAY  ON  BODYGLAZE 

Fig.  15  IS  only  three  inches  high,  of  thin  ware  and 
of  a clean  shape  and  finish.  The  decoration  is  a 
little  unusual,  being  a spray  of  pure  white  on  a faint 
green  body  glaze.  The  lustre  has  the  interesting 
sub-oxide  tint,  with  an  ivory  white  lining. 

WREATH  UNDER  LUSTRE 

Another  small  jug  has  a different  class  of  decoration. 
There  is  a miniature  wreath  in  relief  perfectly  covered 

31 


COLLECTING  OLDLUSTREWARE 

with  deep  copper  lustre,  and  fortunately  the  sharpness 
of  the  pattern  is  well-preserved.  The  large  Stafford- 
shire rose  with  the  leaves,  &c.,  treated  in  pink  and  green 
pigments,  appear  to  be  also  slightly  in  relief. 

These  small  jugs  when  perfectly  coloured  and  potted 
are  suitable  for  cabinet  or  dresser  specimens,  but  there 
is  an  increasing  difficulty  in  finding  them  perfect  m all 

respects. 

THREE-PART  WORK 
In  their  efforts  to 
simulate  the  results 
obtained  by  silver- 
smiths, some  potters 
produced  goblets 
made  from  three 
moulds,  e.g.  bowl, 
stem,  base,  &c.  The  clay  was  pressed  into  shape, 
dried,  put  together  and  fired.  We  have  a two-handled 
goblet  or  loving  cup  arranged  by  this  composite  method. 
It  IS  probably  a fairly  early  example  of  nineteenth- 
century  work.  It  has  traces  of  the  ruby  lustre,  and 
the  twining  spray  m the  floral  wreath  Is  of  rich  scin- 
tillating effect  on  a white  ground. 


VERTICAL  RIBBING 

Fig.  16  presents  a copper  goblet  with  vertical  ribbing, 
and  conventional  decoration  on  a white  band,  indicating 
an  attempt  at  the  Vine  pattern,  often  introduced  on 
the  bands  but  usually  m more  finished  style.  The 
goblet  is  selected  because  of  its  vertical  ribbing,  which 

32 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 


is  not  extensively  met  with,  and  should  therefore  be 
more  interesting  than 
examples  with  a plain 
surface. 


HORIZONTAL  RIBBING 
Fig.  17  shows  pro- 
nounced horizontal  rib- 
bing, and  a decorated 
neckband  in  bright 
colours  on  a white 
ground.  Sharply  ribbed 
examples  are  frequently 
rubbed  at  the  exposed 
edges.  Unfortunately 
this  one  bears  signs  of 
wear,  but  the  glaze,  which 
is  perfect  on  the  base,  indicates  that  originally  it  was 

a brilliant  example 
of  copper  colouring. 


Fig.  16 


PALE  BLUE  RELIEF 
Fig.  18  IS  pale 
turquoise  ware  in 
relief  as  an  orna- 
ment on  a patterned 
copper  lustre.  The 
shapely  design  will 
not  fail  to  commend 
itself  to  collectors 
who  like  cabinet  specimens.  The  ware  is  thin,  light,  and 

c 33 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


generally  artistic.  It  is  glazed  inside  and  out,  having  been 

dipped  in  the  lustre 
bath,  therefore. 


Fig.  18 


In  the  cases  of 
copper  lustre  where 
the  body  is  reserved 
in  white  or  pale  blue 
(turquoise  should  be 
generally  under- 
stood) we  meet  with 
a variety  in  the 
class  of  decoration 
on  the  flat  surface. 

Fig.  19  illustrates  decoration  with  an  overglaze  print 
of  “ Charity  ” in  lilac.  The  wares  known  as  Cottage 
Swansea,  will  be 
familiar  to  every  one 
interested  m these 
matters,  and  ordinary 
porcelains  carrying 
similar  designs  are 
common.  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  so  easy  to 
secure  perfect  lustres 
of  the  self  - ground 
variety  with  a brilliant 
glaze  having  these  desirable  prints,  though  doubtless 
an  enormous  quantity  was  manufactured.  Sometimes 


Fig.  19 


OVERGLAZE  PRINT 
“ CHARITY” 


34 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

the  transfer  is  in  black,  and  tinted  by  hand  in  a 
variety  of  colours,  whilst  in  other  cases  the  subject  is 
left  in  black  outline. 

CHINESE  INFLUENCE 

Examples  occur  in  which  pencilled  outlines  have 
been  completed  by  the  addition  of  coloured  pigments 
rather  carefully  applied  in  blue,  red,  and  green.  It 
hardly  seems  neces- 
sary to  indicate  the 
extent  to  which  the 
Staffordshire  men  re- 
peated quasi-Chmese 
subjects  : examples 

are  frequently  met 
with  in  lustre,  as 
well  as  in  many  other 
sections  of  English 
wares.  The  often- 
met  blue  printed  Willow  design  is  only  one  of  many. 

ORANGE  ASSOCIATION 
WILLIAM  III 

The  writer  has  an  interesting  specimen  of  an  Orange 
Association  jug,  probably  issued  by  the  same  firm, 
as  in  the  case  of  Fig.  20.  The  body  is  pale  blue  and 
on  each  side  a small  neat  overglaze  double  circle 
containing  emblems  and  the  words  Orange  Associa- 
tion ” are  shown.  On  the  front  is  another  double  circle 
representing  a man  on  horseback  and  the  letters  W.  III. 
Beneath  is  the  number  38.  Above  the  horseman  are 
the  words  “ Immortal  memory. 


Fig.  20 


35 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


GENERAL  PIKE 

Speaking  of  historical  topics,  the  writer  was  recently 
shown  an  American  subject  in  copper  lustre,  viz. 
a portrait  of  General  Pike,  a commander  in  the  American 
Army. 

This  was  in  the  centre  of  a simple  plate,  the  rim  of 
which  was  of  rich  copper  lustre  and  a band  of  canary 
next  it.  The  words  printed  in  black  are  : “ Be  always 
ready  to  die  for  your  Country.” 

(Owner.  Mr.  A.  Chambers  of  Buxton.) 

In  Mr.  Hudson  Moore’s  “ Old  China  Book  ” a fine 
copper  ” Cornwallis  ” jug  is  described. 

VIEW  OF  ALSOP  NEAR  BUXTON  (Fig.  20) 

Specimens  extensively  treated  with  copper  lustre 
which  carry  local  views  are  seldom  found.  At  times, 
however,  and  perhaps  in  the  later  days  of  1840  and 
1 850,  printed  views  of  local  interest  were  occasionally 
prepared.  We  can  take  it  that  this  method  by  over- 
glaze and  underglaze  had  become  very  common  and  the 
collector  may  expect  to  find  neat  little  prints  which 
merely  require  local  Identification. 

Our  figure  shows  the  village  church  of  Alsop-en-le- 
dale  about  eleven  miles  from  Buxton.  The  reverse  is 
another  black  print  of  Embden  Castle  near  Derby. 

The  specimens  already  illustrated  represent  only  a 
small  number  of  the  cleaner  outlines  met  with  in  copper 
lustre  ; there  are  a very  large  number  which  might  have 

36 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

been  selected  for  illustration.  Many  carry  rough  flora 
ornaments  in  relief,  with  ungainly  shapes  and  of  coarse 
finish.  It  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  many  of  these 
coarser  examples  are  perfectly  genuine,  and  often  have 
a beautiful  old  glaze,  which  the  collector  would  like  to 
see  transferred  to  his  finer  examples  perhaps  a little 
worn. 

TEAPOTS,  ETC. 

We  must,  however,  make  some  reference  to  the 
teapot  of  Staffordshire  copper  lustre.  Early  porcelains 
with  the  words  “ Bohea  Tea  ” printed  or  painted 
thereon  are  very  interesting,  and  the  use  of  tea  had 
become  general,  particularly  in  the  green  state,  in  some 
districts  at  a time  when  lustre  was  a very  well-known 
variety.  The  Staffordshire  potter  certainly  did  not 
overlook  the  teapot,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  find. 
The  spout  may  be  broken  or  the  cover  missing,  but  the 
pot  rests  in  dignity  on  the  top  shelf  of  the  dresser  : 
in  many  English  wares  these  “ skied  ” examples  are 
often  interesting  and  instructive.  In  lustrous  designs, 
copper  and  silverware  teapots  are  to  be  traced  in 
abundance.  A first-class  design  bearing  some  evidence 
of  the  Wedgwood  finish  in  the  modelling,  and  carrying 
a rich  copper  lustre  is  not  so  easy  to  acquire  as  a good 
silvered  example,  but  indifferent  copper  glazed  pots  are 
met  with  in  many  patterns. 

The  best  designs  are  certainly  found  in  the  silver  lustre 
variety. 

One  fine  piece,  damaged,  is  recollected.  It  was  not 
large,  but  the  modelling  and  glaze  were  admirable. 

37 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

It  simulated  a silversmith’s  pattern,  with  a rich  copper 
glaze,  but  its  beauty  was  marred  by  an  inaccurate 
attempt  at  architecture,  a la  Lowestoft  on  the  pale 
turquoise  band  around  the  body.  It  was  only  slightly 
fractured  and  was  tempting  to  collect,  but  the 
“ Lowestoft  ” daub  decided  its  fate.  Staffordshire, 

Swansea,  who  can  say  ? 

Goblets  and  jugs  are 
certainly  more  desirable 
shapes  for  cabinets  and 
dressers  than  the  teapot. 

COLOURED  BANDS 
Wide  or  narrow  deco- 
rative bands  occur  with 
or  without  markings  on 
the  necks  or  bowls  of 
jugs  and  goblets.  Some- 
times the  lower  part  of 
the  bowl  is  left  in  white 
or  blue.  The  strips  of 
ground  are  often  too  nar- 
row to  admit  of  decora- 
tion, but  an  effect  is  sometimes  secured  by  having  four 
or  five  such  stripes  in  different  colours  close  together. 

Fig.  21  shows  an  example  with  the  base  of  the  bowl 
left  in  pale  turquoise  and  the  decoration  above. 

In  another  case  practically  the  whole  exterior  of  the 
goblet  except  the  stem  has  a white  slip  ground,  carrying 
one  of  the  well-known  transfers.  Another  goblet  has 
the  strawberry  pattern  m bright  colours  on  white. 

38 


Fig.  21 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

These  white  slip  grounds  are  an  excellent  background 
for  coloured  decoration,  and  afford  great  contrast  to  an 
otherwise  dark  surface.  Age,  in  many  instances,  has 
caused  the  decoration  to  sink  into  the  paste,  which 
improves  the  decorative  effect. 


COLOURED  GROUNDS 

The  reservation  of  grounds  associated  with  copper 
lustre  IS  m evidence  to  a far  greater  extent  than  m 
connexion  with  fine  gold  or  silvered  wares,  yet  these 
colours  do  not  reach  a high  standard  of  beauty. 

The  average  jug  is  the  article  on  which  the  majority 
of  shades  individually  appear,  such  as  : 


Pale  blue  Pale  buff 
Dark  blue  Dark  buff 
Pale  green  Apricot 
Dark  green  Canary 


Pink 

Granite  (non-lustrous) 
Tortoise-shell  mottle 
Rough  sanded  ground. 


Rough  specimens  of  copper  lustre  have  crude  panels 
showing  SIX  of  these  shades,  but  are  usually  very  inferior 
work. 

White,  cream,  and  pale  blue  were  the  grounds  most 
frequently  chosen  for  decoration  m colours.  Of  the 
dark  and  light  blues  the  latter  is  much  more  extensively 
chosen,  and  the  exact  shade  can  be  compared  to  pale 
turquoise,  a colour  complimentary  to  the  brown  wares. 
The  turquoise  or  light  blue  appears  to  have  been  used 
with  the  earlier  wares  which  had  relief  applied.  This  is 
parallel  with  the  experience  in  English  blue  printed 
wares,  as  the  earlier  prints  are  pale  blue  and  the  later 
(1840-50)  ones  are  dark. 


39 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

Buff  is  frequently  met  with — it  calls  for  no  special 
comment. 

The  writer  has  a goblet  with  a greenish  yellow  ground 
which  is  unusual.  It  has  no  other  point  of  interest. 

The  canary  ground  is  generally  associated  with  nice 
work,  as  seen  m the  print  of  a fine  example,  Fig.  22. 

The  apricot  ground  is  common.  Occasionally  it  is 

decorated  with  rich 
floral  sprays  on  the 
flat,  and  such  exam- 
ples are  more  desir- 
able than  the  usual 
coarse  flowers  in 
relief.  One  painted 
with  large  roses  and 
blue-bells  is  m exist- 
ence. 

The  shades  of 
green  are  frequently 
covered  with  coarse 
flowers  in  relief,  sometimes  with  lustre  added. 

The  granite  effect  (non-lustrous)  is  an  old  variety 
and  somewhat  uncommon.  Provided  that  the  copper 
lustre  found  in  association  with  it  is  brilliant,  it  makes 
an  interesting  addition  to  the  “ ground  ” examples. 

The  tortoise-shell  is  a broad  patchwork  mottled  effect, 
introducing  blue,  pink,  lilac,  and  touches  of  copper 
lustre.  The  later  wares  are  found  thus  treated  on  buff 
or  blue. 

The  sanded  ground,  sometimes  tinged  with  chocolate 
shade,  is  distinctly  rough  to  the  touch  and  in  appearance. 

40 


Fig.  22 


OLD  COPPER  LUSTRE 

Pink  is  the  shade  least  often  met  with,  as  a ground. 
It  is  not  a pink  lustre  but  a “ wash  ” of  paint  to  which 
lustre  is  afterwards  applied  in  a design,  sometimes  in 
the  manner  of  the  Hispano-Mauro  markings.  The 
shade  is  a distinct  relief  to  the  blues  and  browns  in 
a collection.  The  specimens  are  usually  pleasing,  if  a 
little  rough  in  finish. 

DATE  OF  INTRODUCTION 

ECHOES  OF  WORCESTER,  DERBY,  ETC. 

JASPER  BLUES 

The  quotation  of  anything  approaching  exact  dates 
in  connexion  with  lustrous  effects  is  distinctly  hazardous. 
In  all  probability  these 
reserved  grounds  were 
introduced  with  lustres 
in  their  crude  style,  to 
imitate  the  fine  shades 
which  had  become 
fashionable  in  porce- 
lains from  Worcester, 

Derby,  and  Coalport, 
and  in  the  case  of  the 
numerous  blue  grounds,  there  are  good  reasons  for 
assuming  them  to  be  the  feeble  echoes  of  the  jasper 
blues  of  Wedgwood,  Adams,  Turner,  Neale,  &c.,  in 
whose  footsteps  later  potters  for  a while  followed. 

The  imitation  of  forms  used  by  silversmiths  was  not 
confined  to  the  silvered  wares.  Occasionally  the 
collector  will  happen  on  an  example  treated  with  the 
copper  shade  (Fig.  23). 


41 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


BOAT  SHAPE 

This  familiar  boat  shape  with  copper  lustre  occurs 
in  the  proportion  of  about  one  to  twenty  of  the  silvered 
wares.  In  the  copper  examples  there  is  usually  a 
little  overglaze  decoration  of  coloured  sprays  on  the 
flat,  which  often  seem  an  unsightly  addition  to  the 
brilliant  metallic  glaze  ; being  carelessly  applied.  The 
interior  of  the  piece  representing  this  shape  has  an 
exceedingly  rich  ruddy-bronze  hue.  In  selecting 
specimens  lor  cabinet  or  dresser  decoration  these 
ruddy-bronze  examples  are  most  effective,  when  mingled 
with  choice  silvered  wares. 

A comparison  might  be  made  between  this  print 
and  the  first  one  of  the  old  gold  section — the  shapes 
are  not  unlike,  but  the  earlier  ware  (from  a mould  intro- 
ducing classic  relief  ornament)  is  harder,  from  its  dense 
texture,  and  of  a lighter  brown  clay.  There  may  be  a 
difference  of  ten  years  in  these  two  examples,  so  far 
as  the  manufacture  is  concerned. 

MODERN  WORK 

In  closing  the  descriptions  of  copper  lustre  chiefly 
on  dark  clay,  brief  reference  must  be  made  to  modern 
examples.  Some  work,  known  as  “ Lancastrian  ” 
wares  decorated  with  lustre  are  highly  successful  up  to  a 
certain  point.  Considerable  skill  has  been  brought  to 
bear  on  the  reproduction  of  these  old-fashioned  ideas, 
and  a measure  of  general  success  has  been  obtained. 
The  amateur  is  strongly  recommended  to  examine 
the  paste  carefully,  which  is  easily  observed  in  the  case 
of  white  grounds 

42 


V.  (A)  BRONZED-GOLD,  PURPLE 
AND  LILAC  LUSTRES  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

Use  of  term  : Wilson  School  : Early  Victorian 
effects  : Faiths  Hope,  and  Charity  : Mottled 
effects  : Wedgwood  : Rare  purple  ground. 

(B)  PINK  LUSTRE  (Described  and 

Illustrated) 

Pleasing  effect  : Sunderland  wares  : Origin  of 
marbled  style  : Mariner  s Arms  : Date  of  print. 

(C)  LIGHT  GROUNDS-LUSTRE 
PAINTING 

Brush-work  : Bird  with  landscape  : Chinese 
subject  : Maize  ground  : Two  birds. 

(A)  BRONZED-GOLD  LUSTRE 
USE  OF  TERM 

Before  describing  the  other  two  variants  (Purple 
and  Lilac  lustres)  we  must  attempt  to  explain 
some  difficult  characteristics  of  colouring.  In 
using  the  term  “ bronzed-gold  ” we  propose  to  apply 
that  name  to  the  colours  of  lustre  which  appear  on  dark 

43 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

surfaced  wares,  instead  of  “ purple  ” which  we  reserve 
for  a glaze  on  lighter  surfaces  which  has  a variant  often 
termed  lilac. 

WILSON  SCHOOL 

The  glazes  which  occur  on  wares  (known  as  the 
Wilson  School)  with  a chalky  body  can  with  considerable 
certainty  be  classified  under  this  heading  of  bronzed- 
gold,  and  most  of  them  have  applied  ornamentslin  relief. 
The  Wilsons  made  gold,  bronze,  and  silver  lustres.  Their 
bronze  varieties  have  peculiar  shades  of  their  own 
and  are  difficult  to  describe.  The  rarest  are  brilliant 
gold  of  great  beauty ; another  shade  almost  similar 
is  one  with  a faint  shade  of  purple  added  to  the  gold, 
with  apparently  a darker  surface  ; then  we  have  the 
most  common  of  these  three,  the  deep  chocolate  ground 
on  which  a purple  seems  to  have  been  applied  and 
which  we  can  best  liken  to  a ripe  blackberry.  It  is  this 
latter  shade,  apparently  mixed  with  the  brilliant  gold 
variety,  which  leaves  us  in  a difficulty  to  describe  many 
of  the  crossed  examples.  This  Wilson  gold  is  often 
recognized  in  rare  gold  or  bronzed-gold  resist  specimens. 

PURPLE  AND  LILAC  LUSTRE 
EARLY  VICTORIAN  EFFECTS 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  an  excessively  thin 
metallic  glaze  which  is  practically  transparent  will  look 
quite  different  on  a white  or  cream  ground,  from  a 
similar  glaze  on  a dark  brown  ware.  The  purple  or 
lilac  shades  do  not  present  such  difficulty.  The  purple 
metallic  effects  when  mottled  are  very  popular,  and 

44 


BRONZED-GOLD  LUSTRE 

some  collectors  appreciate  the  varieties  which  have  the 
raised  ornaments  treated  with  the  tint,  or  even  the 
sketches  by  brush-work  in  these  weak  lustre-wash 
shades.  Some  rare  examples  have  exceptional  colour 
combinations  allied  with  a purple  ground,  and  un- 
fortunately prints  in  black  and  white  cannot  do  justice 
to  the  numerous  varieties  of  subtle  colouring.  The 
lilac,  which  we  suggest  contains  less  of  the  rich  pink 
tendency  than  a fine  purple  is  applied  to  all  ordinary 
inferior  grades  of  weak  lustre.  Some  of  the  finest 
grades  of  clear  purple  are  to  be  found  on  the  early 
Victorian  pottery  and  cottage  porcelains.  Usually  those 
wares  are  gaudily  treated,  with  rough  designs  and 
borders,  and  this  often  leads  to  their  exclusion  from 
collections. 

FAITH.  HOPE.  AND  CHARITY 

It  will  perhaps  be  well  to  speak  of  the  almost  black- 
berry shade  which  is  the  most  common  of  the  darker 
tints.  There  are  a large  number  of  jugs,  cups,  and  mugs 
painted  with  this  glaze  having  panel  views.  These 
sketches  m colour  are  usually  nautical  scenes,  as  a 
background  to  female  figures  symbolic  of  Faith,  Hope, 
and  Charity,  and  are  usually  marked  with  one  of  those 
names.  The  subjects  m all  probability  derived  in- 
spiration from  the  renowned  set  of  Worcester  porcelain 
made  in  1792  for  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  Clarence.  . . Sea 
with  a ship  of  war  in  the  distance.  Figure  of  Hope  in 
foreground  ...  as  illustrated  in  F.  W.  Blnn’s  work  on 
Old  Worcester  china,  page  107. 

Fig.  24  represents  “ Faith.” 


45 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


MOTTLED  EFFECTS  WEDGWOOD 

It  will  be  known  that  Josiah  Wedgwood  mottled  some 
wares  with  light  ground  colours,  and  applied  a lustre 
to  the  surface  which  presents  an  artistic  effect  : whilst 
in  certain  lights  we  get  a faint  ruby  tint,  the  general 
appearance  of  the  glaze  is  a weak  purple.  The  writer 
has  a toy  plate  wi'.h  the  impressed  mark  “ Wedgwood.” 

The  ground  of  the 
goblet  illustrated  has 
not  the  touch  of  yellow 
pigment  which  we  see 
in  the  Wedgwood 
piece,  and  this  is 
probably  one  of  the 
many  goblets  mottled 
by  ordinary  methods 
in  Staffordshire.  This 
is  also  a lilac  shade, 
which  in  certain  lights  shows  a faint  gold  tint,  not  ruby. 

RARE  PURPLE  GROUND 

Among  many  rare  examples  of  purple  ground  with  fine 
work  from  Dr.  Harper’s  collection,  we  wish  to  mention 
two  in  particular.  The  first  is  a purple  ground  with  a 
blue  hunting  scene,  the  second  being  a similar  ground 
with  the  vine  motif  and  floral  decoration  in  a wreath, 
tinted  creamy  pink. 

These  examples  of  work  (difficult  to  photograph) 
are  probably  experimental  pieces,  made  in  the  height 
of  the  palmy  days  by  the  Staffordshire  potters  who 

46 


Fig.  24 


PINK  LUSTRE 

spent  considerable  sums  in  experiments  and  were 
keenly  competitive.  This  excessive  competition  was 
the  principal  factor  in  the  extinction  of  several  under- 
takings which  eventually  failed. 

(B)  PINK  LUSTRE 
PLEASING  EFFECT 

Not  all  the  weak  shades  of  copper  lustre  deserve 
the  term  pink.  The 

best  variety  has  none 
of  the  blue  tinge  which 
is  perceived  in  the  weak 
purple  shades.  The 

lustre  pink  is  often  at 
its  best  when  it  has 

sunk  a little  into  an  old 
software.  In  examples 
where  the  decoration  is 
neat  and  the  form  also 
desirable,  the  glaze 

should  be  accepted  : 
discrimination  and  re- 
straint are  however 
necessary.  A broad  statement  might  be  made  that 
many  weak  purple,  lilac,  and  pink  shades  lack  the 
vigorous  colouring  which  we  see  on  the  dark  bodies. 
The  glaze  being  sensitive  is  often  unsatisfactory,  and 
calls  for  special  examples  in  a collection. 

SUNDERLAND  WARES 

Pink  lustre  frequently  occurs  on  wares  made  at 
Sunderland,  marked  examples  are  occasionally  met  with. 

47 


Fig.  25 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

One  well-known  piece,  not  illustrated,  is  in  the  form 
of  a picture,  the  frame  is  dark  copper  glaze  overlapping 
a marbled  pink  pattern.  It  is  a late  black  print  of  some 
Indian  town  coloured  in  red,  blue,  and  green,  marked 
on  the  back  (impressed)  Dixon  and  Co.  The  back  is 
white  ware,  all  the  lustre  being  on  the  front.  Sometimes 
printed  or  coloured  texts  are  shown  up  inside  the  pink 
bands. 

ORIGIN  OF  MARBLED  STYLE 

The  origin  of  marbled  work  on  ordinary  wares  can 
be  traced  to  the  days  of  Whieldon  (1740-1780).  The 
effect  was  presumably  applied  to  lustrous  wares  fairly 
early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  the  earlier  pieces 
are  probably  the  richest.  The  pink  treatment  appears 
as  covering  the  whole  piece  in  a streaked  or  marbled 
style,  or  as  floral  wreaths  on  borders,  or  as  deep  bands 
allied  with  other  decorations.  Some  of  the  earlier 
small  jugs  of  white  ware  are  richly  covered  with  a fine 
marbled  pattern  in  good  pink  lustre.  Modern  imita- 
tions are  to  be  found  with  a rough  mottled  pattern, 
the  glaze  being  fairly  successful. 

MARINER’S  ARMS 

Fig.  26  illustrates  a Sunderland  jug  about  three  inches 
high  with  a clear  pink  band.  The  print  represents  the 
Mariner’s  Arms,  the  words  “ Success  to  Commerce  ” 
appearing  on  a banner.  The  print  is  a rough  brown 
underglaze  transfer,  and  in  view  of  the  date  of  coloured 
underglaze  printing  through  Staffordshire,  &c.,  it  was 
probably  made  with  many  others  about  1 830. 

48 


LIGHT  GROUNDS 

On  the  reverse  side,  the  following  verse  appears  in 
brown  print  surrounded  with  a pretty  brown  border  of 
a floral  character  : 

ON  TIME 

T ime  was,  is  past  thou  canst  not  it  recall. 

Time  is,  thou  hast  employ  the  portion  small. 

Time  future,  is  not  and  may  never  he. 

Time  present,  is  the  only  time  for  thee 


Very  large  quantities  of  Sunderland  wares  are  to  be 
found  lustred,  and 
of  recent  years  many 
coarse  imitations  have 
been  put  on  the 
market.  Some  of  the 
earlier  kinds,  how- 
ever, are  much 
esteemed  by  ex- 
perienced collectors, 
and  such  examples 

are  not  common.  Many  jugs  from  this  factory  are  very 
large. 


(C)  LIGHT  GROUNDS.  LUSTRE  PAINTING 

BRUSH-WORK 

No  collector  of  English  pottery  wares  needs  to  be 
reminded  that  a large  amount  of  earthenware  was  made 
covered  with  a layer  of  white  in  imitation  of  porcelain, 
and  after  many  experiments  this  kind  of  earthenware 
was  brought  to  a high  standard  of  perfection.  During 

D 49 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


the  time  that  lustre  was  fashionable,  designs  were 
painted  by  brush  on  them  in  the  lustre  pigment,  and  in 
many  instances  no  other  colour  than  that  secured  from 
the  lustre  was  added.  We  have  inserted  a print  or  two 
dealing  specifically  with  this  class  The  largest  pro- 
portion of  wares  collected  illustrate  outlines  obtained 
by  dexterity  in  the  use  of  the  brush,  freehand,  but 

unfortunately  they  are  not 
often  artistic. 


BIRD  AND  LANDSCAPE 
From  Dr.  Harper’s 
splendid  collection  we 
illustrate  one  very  fine  ex- 
ample, which  introduces  a 
bird  and  a landscape  in  the 
usual  gold,  light  purple 
shade. 

It  is  seldom  that  fine 
examples  of  this  class  are  exposed  for  sale,  and  those 
pieces  which  do  appear  on  the  market  are  exceedingly 
disconnected  and  out  of  proportion  to  the  objects 
representedi^(Fig.  27). 

Specimens  of  brush-work  equal  to  the  illustration 
should  certainly  be  secured  whenever  possible.  In  all 
probability  this  jug  was  painted  at  Sunderland. 


Fig.  27 


CHINESE  SUBJECT 

The  second  example  of  this  class  is  a jug  of 
Staffordshire  white  ware  on  which  a subject  of  an 
Oriental  character  has  been  attempted.  The  outline 

50 


LIGHT  GROUNDS 

presents  a fairly  clear  pink  verging  on  lilac,  but  not  of 
the  deep  tint  seen  on  the  jug  of  the  Sunderland  type 
just  referred  to. 

An  interesting  feature  in  the  ware  is  a cross  in  relief 
on  the  bottom  of  it.  The  writer  has  a blue  printed 
jug  which  has  an  exactly  similar  mark  on  the  base,  and 
it  is  usually  a mild  puzzle  to  a collector. 

MAIZE  GROUND 


Another  interest- 
ing bit  IS  a toy  mug 
barely  two  inches 
high.  The  ware  is 
chalky  white,  but 
treated  with  a deep 
maize  on  the  surface, 
and  over  this  a little 
sketch  has  been 
painted  in  gold  lustre : 
a shade  which  might  naturally  be  expected  to  result 
from  the  use  of  copper  lustre  on  a yellow  ground. 


Fig.  28 


TWO  BIRDS 

Two  birds,  a cock  and  hen,  are  shown  to  be  perched 
on  particularly  slender  twigs  without  visible  claws,  a 
mere  detail  for  which  the  amateur  artists  of  Staffordshire 
have  frequently  to  be  excused. 


51 


VI.  (A)  OLD  STEEL  LUSTRE 

(Described  and  Illustrated) 

Ruby  lining  : Beading  : Pelured-gold  lining  : 
Fluting. 

(B)  OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

Plain  and  patterned  : Pattern  cream  relief  : 
Diamond  pattern  : Height  of  deception  : Boat 
shapes  : Bird  handles  : Modern  toorf. 

(A)  OLD  STEEL  LUSTRE 

Examples  of  steel  lustre  do  not  markedly  differ 
in  appearance  from  the  silver  lustre  proper, 
and  the  patterns  to  which  the  glaze  was  applied 
were  usually  similar  to  those  used  for  the  silvered 
wares.  They  are  not  often  found  in  a first-class 
state  of  preservation  and  probably  were  produced  at 
a period  when  the  early  sensitive  glazes  were  in 
use.  This  surmise  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that 
most  examples  occur  on  apparently  early  moulded 
designs,  and  Fig.  29 — an  ordinary  specimen — illustrates 
this. 

52 


OLD  STEEL  LUSTRE 


RUBY  LINING 

The  interior  has  traces  of  the  ruby  lining  ; another 
indication  of  probable  early  work,  or  of  the  retention  of 
old  methods  by  a conservative  potter. 


BEADING 

A line  of  beading  on  the  rim  of  a silver  or  steel  goblet 
is  a slight  departure  from 
the  usual  severe  outlines 
adopted  for  those  vessels. 

Yet  beading  is  a particu- 
larly common  ornament 
on  Staffordshire  lustres, 
and  the  majority  of  the 
silver  intricate  relief  pat- 
terns are  beaded  and 
fluted,  m a far  more 
extensive  and  interesting 
manner  than  the  reliefs 
associated  with  coppered 


wares. 


Fig.  29 


PELURED  LUSTRE 

There  is  another  variety  which  should  be  noticed, 
on  account  of  a slight  peculiarity  of  the  surface,  termed 
“ pelured.” 

The  surface  of  the  body  presents  a minutely  pitted 
one,  which  closely  resembles  that  of  an  orange,  and  as 
the  reader  will  be  aware,  the  Staffordshire  salt-glazed 
early  wares  had  this  peculiarity. 


53 


COLLFXTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

If  the  use  of  the  hard  brittle  metal  termed  manganese 
caused  the  pitting,  the  point  must  be  answered  why  we 
have  old  gold  goblets  from  an  identical  mould  with 
similar  pitting. 

One  or  two  explanations  have  been  offered  for  the 
appearance  of  such  surfaces  associated  with  lustre 
glaze  : that  the  use  of  manganese  has  produced  it — 
or  that  the  mould  used  for  the  piece,  must  have  been 
of  old  wood  and  the  constant  friction  of  hard  clays 
in  the  mould  had  gradually  pitted  the  surface,  which 
then  acted  on  the  hardened  clay.  Practical  potters 
may  have  other  explanations  for  us,  but  the  mould 
theory  seems  a probable  explanation. 

GOLD  LINING 
VERTICAL  FLUTING 

This  pelured  surface  occurs  on  old  forms  covered  with 
steel  lustre  usually,  or  of  a dulled  shade  of  silver.  The 
latter  effect  is  probably  due  to  the  minutely  broken 
surface  of  the  body,  which  prevents  the  usual  cross 
reflections  (the  well-known  enemy  of  the  patient 
photographer).  Pelured  surfaces  are  also  covered  with 
a dull  shade  of  gold  lustre,  which  may  be  classed  with 
an  old  gold  variety.  The  goblets  often  have  an 
interior  like  gold — not  a plum  shade,  as  m the  steel 
example.  Short  vertical  flutes  on  the  lower  part  of 
the  bowl  are  sometimes  observed  ; they  break  the 
monotony  of  the  usually  severe  outlines. 


54 


OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE 


(B)  OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE 

PLAIN  AND  PATTERNED 

Old  silver  lustre  is  found  applied  to  an  exceedingly 
extensive  variety  of  Staffordshire  wares,  and  the  total 
production  must  have  been  enormous. 

Perhaps  the  study  of  a work  on  old  silver  will  give 
those  interested  an  excellent  idea  of  the  patterns  which 
may  be  found  ; silver  was  cleverly  imitated,  and 
silversmiths’  moulds  were  undoubtedly  used  in  every 
possible  form. 

The  silver  goblet,  with  which  the  teapot  is  the  most 
numerous  variety,  was  produced  in  all  manner  of  shapes 
and  sizes,  but  usually  plain.  Some  are  loving-cups 
with  two  handles  ; another  unusual  variety  observed 
was  from  a mould  like  a champagne  glass.  When 
many  of  these  plain  examples  are  carefully  measured 
they  will  be  found  to  vary  considerably  In  width, 
depth,  and  outline  of  the  curves  ; which  proves  that  an 
enormous  number  of  moulds  were  m use. 

They  are  found  lined  with  the  plum  glaze,  in 
silver-gilt  style  and  also  silvered  similar  to  the  ex- 
terior. 

Fine  old  examples  of  goblets  with  ribbing  m the 
horizontal  style,  which  is  exceedingly  common  in 
copper  lustre,  are  comparatively  scarce.  The  writer 
has  seen  one  or  two  basins  with  this  treatment, 
and  one  goblet  only,  which  was  unsuitable  for  col- 
lection, the  glaze  being  nearly  all  gone.  There 
are  probably  a large  quantity  in  existence  some- 

55 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

where,  however,  and  they  may  be  well  known  to  other 
collectors. 

PATTERN  IN  CREAM  RELIEF 

Before  we  describe  any  illustrations  dealing  with 
ordinary  patterned  silver  wares,  it  will  be  better  to  select 
an  earlier  example  of  a silver  ground  ware  allied  with 
decoration  m cream  relief. 

This  unusual  example  is  from  Dr.  Harper’s  collection. 

In  the  gold  section 
reference  has  been 
made  to  the  work  of 
the  Wilsons,  who  are 
credited  with  having 
issued  various  lustred 
wares,  gold,  silver,  and 
copper.  The  body 
ware  of  our  illustra- 
tion is  a pale  buff 
and  similar  to  that  observed  in  the  rare  silver  cat  from 
the  same  collection. 

For  some  reason,  not  at  all  clear,  examples  with  gold 
or  copper  having  ornaments  m relief  are  often  to  be 
found,  but  those  with  a wholly  silver  ground  are  only 
occasionally  met  with.  Fig.  30,  in  all  probability,  is  an 
early  example,  and  the  character  of  the  relief  work  will 
be  seen  from  the  photograph. 

Tall  shapes,  associated  with  silver  lustre,  are  usually 
devoid  of  ornament ; at  any  rate  it  is  not  discovered 
to  the  extent  found  on  the  boat-shaped  pieces — under 
the  silver  glaze. 

56 


OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE 


HEIGHT  OF  DECEPTION 
The  wonderful  simi- 
larity of  silver  lustre  ware 
to  the  original  metal- 
work has  been  men- 
tioned : a specimen  is  introduced  to  show  this,  so  far  as 
printing  admits.  Fig.  32  can  be  described  as  the  height 
of  deception  ; the  ware  is  thin,  hard,  and  finely  potted, 
the  top  edge  is  clean  and  sharp  and  many  persons 
before  handling  it  would  expect  to  find  it  made  of  metal. 
A glance  into  the  interior  heightens  this  Illusion. 

It  is  a coffee-pot  with  a small  strainer  fixed  inside  the 
lip,  but  the  cover  has  not  been  photographed.  A hint 
can  here  be  given  to  the  amateur,  one  often  mentioned 

57 


DIAMOND  PATTERN 

Fig.  31  is  a specimen  known  as  the  diamond 
pattern,  its  arabesque  ornamentation  being  exceptionally 
well  chosen.  The  glaze  is  carried  well  down  into  the 
jug,  with  a brown  clay  as  its  base.  Its  graceful 
outline  makes  it  an  excellent  cabinet  shape.  There 
are  some  characteristics 
about  it  which  prompt 
the  supposition  that  it 
was  produced  by  Wood 
and  Caldwell.  An  exactly 
similar  shape  occurs  in 
gold  lustre,  with  a small 
wreath  in  colours  on  the 
lustre  glaze. 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

by  expert  writers  on  collecting — i.e.  never  to  purchase 
examples  unless  they  are  perfect.  Covers  of  many  old 
wares  are  in  demand  in  order  to  complete  otherwise 
perfect  examples. 

TEAPOTS 

Teapots  are  very  much  in  evidence,  in  a large 
number  of  patterns.  One  with  magnificent  scroll- 
work and  an  unusual 
spout  is  not  illus- 
trated here.  Some 
of  the  patterns  are 
admirable,  and  as  a 
teapot  was  an  article 
much  m demand  and 
probably  often  broken, 
considerable  attention 
was  given  to  the 
manufacture  of  fine 
examples. 

BOAT  SHAPE 

At  least  half  a dozen  different  patterns  on  hand 
would  illustrate  the  variety  known  as  boat-shaped  cream- 
jugs.  One  piece  came  from  a set,  the  sugar-box  of 
which  had  W cut  into  the  glaze  and  paste.  We  cannot 
affirm  that  this  is  intended  for  Wilson,  but  many  silvered 
wares  are  known  to  be  marked  WILSON. 

BIRD  HANDLES 

The  accompanying  figure  illustrates  a sugar-box  in 
patterned  lustre.  The  fluting  and  beading  are  common, 

58 


Fig.  32 


OLD  SILVER  LUSTRE 

but  the  bird  handles — a reptilian  variety — are  a dis- 
tinctive feature  of  the  piece. 

MODERN  WORK 

Much  modern  silvered  ware  is  now  on  sale,  lined  with 
gold  lustre.  The  handles  of  cream-jugs  and  teapots 
are  often  black,  but  the  collector  of  Staffordshire  old 
wares  should  not  be  mistaken  in  regard  to  this  novel 
product.  Examples  will  be  found  in  many  good  modern 
china-ware  establish- 
ments. 

There  are  other 
examples  of  modern 
work  which  may  be 
found  mixed  with 
genuine  old  pieces 
m certain  “ antique  ” 
establishments,  and 
care  should  be  exercised  to  avoid  accepting  them  as 
genuine  old  examples. 

A close  comparison  between  the  old  and  new  shows 
the  former  to  be  of  a whiter  sheen  altogether  ; the 
modern  wares  have  a dull  greyish  hue,  which  is  easily 
observed  when  both  specimens  are  held  side  by  side 
in  a good  light.  It  is  easy  to  accept  small  articles  of 
modern  make  for  inferior  old  pieces,  however,  unless 
some  experience  has  been  obtained  by  past  adventures. 

Old  figures,  shall  we  say  “ assumedly  old  ” ones 
should  be  carefully  inspected  before  purchase,  as  clever 
imitations  are  known. 


59 


VII.  OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE  (Described 
AND  Illustrated) 

Gold  resist  : Wilson  School  : Silver  resist  bird  : 
Copper  resist  : Stencilling  (Quasi-resist)  : 
Ground  shades  with  silver  : With  copper  : Dated 
specimens  : Transfer  patterns  : Chinese  style 
abandoned  : Morland  prints  : Other  work 
with  resist  : Bands  : Gold  resist  : Stencilling  : 

Gold  resist  bird  style  : Sprays  : Lilac  resist  : 

Two  shades.  Silver  : One  bird  : Two  birds  : 

Very  fine  spray  : Leeds  arrows  : Orange 
and  silver  : Hunting  {with  blue)  : Dated 
pieces  : Panel  of  birds  : Panel  views  : Watteau 
prints. 

OLD  GOLD  RESIST 

SUCH  an  exceptional  interest  appears  to  be  attached 
to  resist  lustres,  especially  the  class  known  as 
silver  resist,  that  it  may  be  helpful  to  describe 
most  of  the  varieties  likely  to  be  discovered.  Probably 
the  class  of  resist  work  most  rarely  found  is  gold  resist. 
This  is  quite  distinct  from  patterns  m gilding,  or  even 
resist  gilding,  seen  on  the  fine  English  porcelains  : 
the  metallic  lustre  specimens  have  a warmer  shade, 
indicating  their  coppery  origin. 

60 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 


WILSON  SCHOOL 

In  view  of  the  patterns  employed  it  is  probable  that 
the  work  was  contemporaneous  with  the  resist  silver, 
and  the  tinge  of  the  metallic  glaze  strongly  reminds  us 
of  some  of  the  clearer  shades  observed  on  the  bronzed- 
gold  lustres,  usually  accompanied  by  chalky  ornament 
in  relief,  associated  with  the  work  of  the  “ Wilson  ” 
school.  In  fact  it  would  be  of  great  interest  to  trace 
any  genuine  gold  resist  lustres  which  did  not  emanate 
from  the  Wilson  school,  except  perhaps  Swansea  (?). 
But  the  various  threads  of  research  have  not  yet  so 
matured  as  to  give  the  collector  definite  information, 
and  the  probabilities  are  that  variants  which  could 
not  be  attributed  to  Wilson  would  have  to  be  labelled 
“ Staffordshire,”  because  of  the  exceptional  scarcity 
of  fine  marked  examples  in  superior  resist  work. 

OLD  SILVER  RESIST 

Of  true  resist  wares,  the  old  silver  variety  is  the 
largest  class.  But  it  must  not  be  taken  for  granted 
that  in  comparison  with  the  general  wares  of  Staffordshire 
the  resist  lustres  represent  a common  variety.  Large 
quantities  were  made,  but  apparently  the  manufacture 
fell  into  disuse,  and  the  scarcity  of  fine  specimens 
explains  the  commercial  value  attached  to  them. 

There  seems  to  be  a general  opinion  that  silver  resist 
designs  were  issued  concurrently  with  the  plain  lustres 
or  m other  words  that  the  date  of  ” resist  ” introduction 
is  contemporaneous  with  the  plain  and  patterned 
silvered  pieces.  This  may  be  correct,  yet  in  view  of 

61 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

the  elaborate  designs  which  occur  on  some  pieces 
considered  to  be  early  we  are  inclined  to  doubt  whether 
the  Staffordshire  potter  began  to  “ run  ” before  he  had 
learnt  to  “ walk,”  and  in  absence  of  definite  proof  that 
both  varieties  are  contemporaneous  we  think  it  is  more 
likely  some  experience  had  been  obtained  with  simple 
glazes  m the  first  instance.  ” Resist  ” may  have  been 
introduced  some  time  after  the  adoption  of  the  transfer 
process  on  ordinary  wares.  Having  become  expert,  little 
time  would  then  be  lost  by  the  competitive  and  enter- 
prising potters  whose  works  are  now  eagerly  sought. 

As  a paragraph  on  transfer  printing  generally  will  be 
found  m this  chapter,  the  production  of  the  numerous 
designs  needs  no  special  comment  here  except  as  a 
record  of  the  general  run  of  the  patterns. 

SILVER  RESIST  BIRD 

The  resist  bird  with  foliage  of  a sparse  character  is 
probably  the  design  with  variants  most  often  met  with. 
We  have  not  seen  the  creature  associated  with  gold 
resist  of  the  self-ground  class,  but  possibly  specimens 
are  in  existence. 

Ordinary  foliage  and  conventional  floral  designs  are 
also  numerous,  as  well  as  the  Vine  pattern,  and  many 
of  each  class  are  clean  and  artistic  in  finish. 

With  the  exception  of  the  rare  examples  of  Chinese 
influence  in  patterns,  the  human  figure  is  a great  rarity, 
in  resist ; when  it  does  occur  with  silver  lustre  it  is 
usually  in  underglaze  blue  of  the  ” Morland  ” sportsman 
type. 

A large  number  of  pieces  have  only  a small  proportion 

62 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

of  the  exterior  surface  treated  with  resist,  and  the 
designs  usually  introduced  are  of  a floral  character. 
Some  self-ground  wares  present  the  foliage  in  underglaze 
blue,  whilst  red  is  occasionally  added. 

COPPER  RESIST 

Resist  copper  lustre  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term 
might  be  applied  to  every  other  class  of  lustre  resist 
except  the  silver  variety,  when  we  recollect  that  the 
basic  metal,  employed  before  the  firing,  is  probably 
copper.  The  best  shades  (?  secured  by  the  elimination 
of  impurities,  &c.)  are  scarce  : it  is  the  character  of  the 
outline,  the  extent  of  the  resist  decoration  and  the 
school  of  the  piece  generally  which  enables  the  col- 
lector to  use  a certain  amount  of  discrimination  in  his 
labelling. 

Resist  copper  ordinarily,  m the  specimens  usually 
found  by  the  amateur,  is  that  with  a lilac  shade. 

With  few  exceptions  the  patterns  are  of  a floral 
character,  and  do  not  present  much  diversity  in  the  treat- 
ment. It  would  appear  that  at  the  time  copper  lustre 
became  generally  popular,  ordinary  relief  patterns  and 
overglaze  painting  had  become  common,  and  were 
considered  less  troublesome  than  the  older  resist 
process ; hence  the  comparative  scarcity  of  fine  copper 
self-ground  resist  work. 

STENCILLING  OR  QUASI-RESIST 

In  closing  these  preliminary  remarks  on  the  three 
varieties,  gold,  silver,  and  copper  resist  wares,  we  must 
not  overlook  the  stencilling  process.  This  is  practically 

63 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

an  effect  vice-versa  to  resist.  In  the  latter  we  see  the 
pattern  in  white  on  a gold  or  silver  ground,  whilst  with 
the  stencilling  the  pattern  is  in  gold  lustre  on  the  white 
ground.  The  stencilling  with  silver  lustre  is  not  a 
prominent  or  a satisfactory  decoration,  probably  in 
consequence  of  insufficient  contrast  with  the  ground 
colour.  Possibly  the  process  of  stencilling  lustre  on 
white  grounds  may  be  later  than  the  true  resist  process, 
but  on  the  other  hand  we  know  that  stencils  were  used 
to  reserve  the  pattern  ground  when  producing  the  resist 
wares. 

The  process  showing  how  the  patterns  were  secured 
has  already  been  roughly  outlined. 

GROUND  SHADES  WITH  SILVER  RESIST 

It  will  be  known  that  several  ground  shades  were 
used  in  connexion  with  the  various  resist  wares.  In 
the  majority  of  cases,  which  in  all  probability  embrace 
the  earlier  examples,  a white  ground  was  used,  but  on 
some  specimens  a second  shade  was  introduced,  such 
as  canary  or  blue  (white  and  blue,  or  white  and  canary). 
We  have  never  heard  of  an  example  treated  with  both 
canary  and  blue.  Below  will  be  found  a list  of  the 
various  grounds,  with  suitable  remarks  : 

White.  Most  usual  shade  with  the  cleanest  outlines. 
White  or  cream  ground  probably  first  used,  which 
coincides  with  the  Queen’s  ware  body. 

Buff.  Frequently  met  yet  not  so  often  as  the  white  and 
when  the  buff  is  dark  the  effect  is  a little  unsatisfactory. 

Canary.  Occasionally  occurs.  It  is  a shade  which 
often  forms  a ground  for  silver  decorations  with  red. 

64 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

Blue.  Occasionally  occurs.  This  ground  sometimes 
gives  the  silver  resist  a leaden  appearance.  Examples 
are  by  no  means  common. 

Pink.  Exceedingly  rare. 

Apricot.  Exceedingly  rare. 

GROUNDS  WITH  COPPER  RESIST 

Occasionally  in  addition  to  a white  ground  being  used 
for  a resist  treatment,  a pale  blue  ground  is  treated 
on  the  same  piece,  which  gives  us  an  effect  of  resist 
in  two  shades,  resembling  the  silver  resist  floral  work. 
Those  with  copper  lustre  are  unusual. 

RESIST  DATED  SPECIMENS 

The  earliest  dates  appearing  on  lustre  are  those  allied 
with  silver  glaze  and  with  silver  resist.  The  writer  once 
saw  a nice  jug,  treated  with  gold  lustre  decoration  and 
ordinary  floral  decorations  in  coloured  pigments,  dated 
1 81 3 in  that  lustre.  This,  of  course,  was  not  a resist  jug. 

In  silver  resist  we  think  a specimen  exists  bearing 
date  1756.  A silver  lustre  jug  was  sold  at  Christie’s  in 
January  1 908  described  as  : 

“ Silver  lustre  jug  decorated  with  birds  and  flowers 
inscribed  J.  Simpson  original  Staffordshire  warehouse, 

1791.” 

We  have  illustrated  specimens  of  silver  resist  from 
Dr.  Harper’s  collection,  with  description  (Figs.40and41 ). 

None  of  these  dates  must  be  accepted  as  the  year  of 
manufacture  ; they  are  all  probably  anniversary  to  a 
birthday,  or  perhaps  a wedding  day.  The  majority 
of  the  dated  resist  wares  approximate  to  the  early  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 


E 


65 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 
TRANSFER  PATTERNS  GENERALLY 

Considerable  speculation  occurs  as  to  the  methods 
adopted  and  the  patterns  used  by  the  early  Staffordshire 
and  other  potters,  and  it  will  be  interesting  to  consider 
some  data  associated  with  the  general  history  of  the 
transfer  patterns,  so  far  as  they  are  reflected  in  the  designs 
applied  to  old  resist  lustres  ; which,  broadly,  are  of 
some  assistance  in  enabling  us  to  form  an  approximate 
idea  of  the  date  of  the  process.  Some  old  resist  lustre 
is  considered  to  have  been  made  at  the  group  of  potteries 
known  as  Old  Leeds  ; according  to  the  Messrs.  Kidson, 
underglaze  printing  was  commenced  there  circa  1790, 
and  the  researches  by  Mr.  Turner  yield  no  further  data 
on  that  point.  This  refers  to  the  printing  of  general 
wares,  and  not  necessarily  to  any  treated  with  lustrous 
decoration. 

Most  of  the  early  factories  were  more  or  less  under 
the  influence  of  the  Chinese  manner  of  decoration 
when  the  underglaze  printing  was  taken  up,  and  many 
old  Leeds  marked  wares  display  this  influence.  The 
Liverpool  printing,  with  its  early  overglaze  associations, 
adopted  styles  from  the  French  school,  similar  to  those 
produced  overglaze  at  Worcester,  but  when  these  over- 
glaze Watteau  subjects  disappeared  many  of  the  under- 
glaze prints  began  to  exhibit  the  Chinese  style,  the 
ordinary  Willow  pattern  being  one  of  the  most  common. 
With  regard  to  Liverpool,  considerable  doubt  exists 
whether  any  factory  there  produced  resist  wares  ; m 
fact  the  veil  of  uncertainty  is  thicker  over  the  Liverpool 
group  than  almost  any  other  of  the  well-known  potting 
districts  in  England. 

66 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

Mr.  J.  F.  Blacker  in  his  instructive  article  in  London 
Opinion  for  May  24,  1913,  says  the  pattern  for  resist 
silver  lustres  was  “ printed  ” in  blue  underglaze — that 
after  the  pattern  had  been  blocked  out  with  a preparation 
of  treacle  or  glycerine  the  ware  was  dipped  in  the 
lustrous  bath.  It  was  then  washed  in  water  and  fired. 
He  considers  this  was  the  process  in  the  early  examples. 

In  view  of  the  general  use  of  the  Willow  pattern  and 
its  allied  variants  we  might  reasonably  expect  to  meet 
with  a considerable  number  of  Chinese  designs  m resist, 
assuming  it  to  have  been  a process  in  operation  in  1 790  ; 
but  the  only  example  with  a distinct  Chinese  influence 
known  to  the  writer  is  the  very  large  straight-sided 
mug  from  the  Ward  collection  illustrated  in  a group 
on  page  222  of  the  Connoisseur  for  December  1907, 
which  example  was  in  the  “ White  City  ” Exhibition 
some  years  ago.  Speaking  from  memory,  we  do  not 
think  this  outline  was  obtained  by  the  underglaze 
blue,  yet  the  mug  was  regarded  as  a most  unusual 
piece  from  an  extensive  collection  of  other  designs. 

CHINESE  STYLES  ABANDONED 

It  IS,  however,  apparent  that  at  the  time  resist  lustres 
came  into  favour  the  potters  or  the  public  had  lost 
interest  m the  Chinese  patterns,  and  from  this  we  might 
infer  that  the  resist  process  came  into  operation  well 
after  1 790  ; unless  there  be  some  other  reason  for  the 
absence  of  those  well-known  designs. 

MORLAND  PRINTS 

In  Dr.  Harper’s  collection  there  are  several  perfect 
examples  of  the  underglaze  blue  printing  combined 

67 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

with  silver  grounds.  The  subjects  are  hunting,  farm 
and  field  scenes  and  some  represent  deer  with  their 
antlers  reaching  into  tall  trees.  The  figures  of  hunts- 
men, which  we  have  also  seen  picked  out  in  colours, 
remind  one  of  the  Morland  Hunting  subjects,  man 
with  dogs  and  gun,  horses,  &c.  ; George  Morland  lived 
in  1763-1804,  and  his  pictures  were  engraved  long 
before  his  decease.  Here  again,  we  imagine,  some  little 
time  would  naturally  elapse  before  such  transfers  would 
be  applied  to  farmers’  jugs,  and  possibly  the  Morland 
subjects  were  more  widely  appreciated  for  their  sporting 
characteristics  after  1804  than  previously. 

With  regard  to  the  blue  underglaze,  much  experience 
had  doubtless  been  secured  before  attempts  were  made 
to  apply  a large  transfer  to  the  awkward  sides  of  a jug, 
and  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  the  production  marked 
a time  when  transfer  printing  generally,  overglaze  and 
underglaze,  had  been  mastered  to  a considerable  extent. 

With  regard  to  the  overglaze.  Dr.  Harper’s  fine 
collection  contains  some  splendid  purple  and  lilac  prints 
surrounded  by  fine  resist  work,  the  brilliance  of  the 
colours  being  altogether  richer  than  Worcester  porcelain 
overglaze  prints,  yet  perhaps  lacking  the  exceeding 
delicacy  in  outline  of  the  latter. 

OTHER  WORK  WITH  RESIST 

Probably  the  percentage  of  specimens  carrying  other 
work  in  addition  to  “ resist  ” is  small  in  the  majority 
of  collections.  The  principal  additions  are  : 

(a)  Panel  views  in  overglaze  transfer  work. 

(b)  Pencilled  overglaze  outlines  of  birds  on  a panel 
coloured  by  hand  and  fired. 


68 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

(c)  Blue  underglaze  printed  and  tinted  scenes,  the 
blue  from  the  transfer  process. 

(d)  Masks  coloured  in  relief  surrounded  with  silver 
patterns. 

(e)  Black  printed  wording  sometimes  combined  with 
other  colours. 

These  remarks  are  applied  to  examples  in  which  the 
resist  work  covers  practically  the  whole  field  of  the  jug. 

In  the  case  under  (a)  the  overglaze  panel,  views  or 
emblems  are  usually  in  one  overglaze  colour,  viz.  black, 
violet,  rich  purple  or  a brick  red. 

In  the  case  of  (b)  the  bird  in  colours  is  obtained  by 
the  old  and  common  process  of  pencilling  an  outline, 
or  perhaps  transferring  it,  the  coloured  pigments  being 
applied  by  hand.  These  coloured  birds,  often  of  no 
special  artistic  merit,  when  surrounded  with  resist 
work  are  much  in  demand  by  collectors,  and  there  are 
several  forgeries  m modern  work  on  the  market. 

The  class  (c)  embraces  the  method  described  by 
Mr.  Blacker — referred  to  in  the  production  of  outlines 
— and  does  not  need  any  further  remark  here,  as  we 
are  including  a print  of  a beautiful  example,  from  Dr. 
Harper’s  collection.  The  writer  has  another  variety 
with  blue  leaves,  which  is  not  illustrated. 

With  regard  to  (d)  there  are  many  masked  jugs 
decorated  with  silver  lustre,  and  a few  are  surrounded 
with  resist.  The  masks  are  m relief. 

In  connexion  with  (c)  the  artistic  merit  is  sometimes 
little,  but  occasionally  the  work  is  very  fine.  It  must 
be  understood  that  these  examples  are  by  no  means 
common,  and  the  artistic  ones  realize  high  prices  when 

69 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

offered  for  sale.  This  is  not  surprising,  for  they  re- 
present the  highest  flight  of  the  Staffordshire  potter 
in  connexion  with  early  resist  wares. 

RESIST  BANDS 

Quite  a large  number  of  pieces,  chiefly  jugs  and  mugs, 
have  a band  of  silver  resist  at  the  neck,  the  remaining 
ground  on  the  sides  being  left  in  white,  cream,  or  maize 
as  the  case  may  be,  with  and  without  pigmentary 
decorations  of  a minor  character. 

GOLD  RESIST 

Mention  has  been  made  of  resist  gold  lustre  being 
found  in  designs — usually  of  the  floral  variety — similar 
to  those  found  on  resist  silver  wares.  Our  illustrations 
must  be  limited,  and  as  an  outline  alone  does  not  convey 
the  colouring,  we  will  refer  the  reader  to  a print  in 
the  Connoisseur,  page  199,  for  November  1902,  which 
accompanies  an  article  mentioning  English  lustre. 

A great  deal  of  white  ground  is  often  left  on  these 
rare  examples,  and  we  have  already  mentioned  the 
undesirable  and  excessive  chalky  relief  ornaments  or 
turnings  which  appear  in  connexion  with  the  Wilson 
school  of  lustre. 

This  peculiar  bronzed-gold  variety  is  best  exhibited 
with  well-silvered  examples,  all  ordinary  gold  and  copper 
shades  not  of  an  absolutely  identical  sheen  being 
excluded.  In  a general  collection  of  pottery,  pieces 
covered  with  a rich  underglaze  blue  pattern  will  be 
found  an  admirable  combination  with  the  bronzed- 
gold. 

70 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

In  fact  the  difficulties  in  collecting  lustres  and  blues 
of  even  shades  are  well  known.  Experiments  at 
blending  are  highly  desirable. 

GOLD  STENCILLED  PATTERNS 

To  dispose  of  the  gold  shades,  it  will  be  well  to  speak 
cf  them  before  taking  notice  of  resist  silver  varieties. 

With  regard  to  gold  stencilling,  most  of  the  specimens 
we  have  seen  occur  on  a soft  azure  blue  ground,  and 
owing  to  the  exceptional  delicacy  of  the  stencilled 
pattern  (which  would  quickly  disappear  in  use  or  by 
washing  the  ware)  the  production  of  a clear  photograph 
IS  most  difficult.  In  certain  lights  we  merely  perceive 
the  sheen  of  the  lustre  and  close  examination  is  needed 
to  discover  the  pattern. 

In  our  Old  Gold  section  we  illustrated  one  example 
with  a self-ground  gold  shade  and  a decorated  neckband, 
Fig.  8,  which  also  has  an  exceptionally  delicate  glaze. 
In  regard  to  stencilled  examples  several  occur  in  Dr. 
Harper’s  collection,  and  we  think  they  came  from  the 
same  pottery.  One  is  a very  fine  example  in  mint 
condition.  The  neckband  has  the  soft  blue  ground 
covered  with  quaint  markings  in  gold  lustre,  whilst 
the  sides  of  the  jug  have  a stencilled  pattern  on  the 
blue  in  gold,  of  the  Vine  pattern,  exceedingly  old  and 
often  met  in  early  wares.  In  this  instance  the  details 
are  unusually  complete,  showing  the  leaves  and  fruit. 
A second  jug  has  another  floral  stencilled  design. 
These  varieties  are  uncommon  and  probably  very 
scarce.  Where  the  lustre  is  applied  to  the  brown  body- 
ware,  the  effect  is  similar  to  that  of  a superior  copper. 

71 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


GOLD  PATTERN  IN  RESIST  BIRD  STYLE 

An  old  jug — unfortunately  split — was  once  examined. 
It  had  a design  in  gold  (copper)  lustre,  on  a white  ware 
ground,  of  the  resist  bird  with  foliage,  so  well  known 
in  the  resist  silver  varieties.  Had  the  example  beer 
vice-versa,  re.  a gold  ground  and  the  resist  birds  in 

white,  it  would  have  been 
a most  interesting  speci- 
men. Even  with  the  treat- 
ment seen  it  was  unusual, 
and  the  pattern  was  un- 
doubtedly copied  in  gold 
lustre  from  a silver  resist 
jug. 

GOLD  SPRAYS  IN  RESIST 
STYLE 

This  small  jug  (Fig.  34) 
is  another  illustration  of 
the  resist  style  spray  decoration.  It  will  be  observed 
there  is  a band  of  solid  copper  lustre,  and  where  the 
pattern  is  disposed  over  the  white  ground  the  appearance 
is  brilliant  golden  pink.  As  the  sprays  are  neat,  it  is 
considered  an  interesting  variety. 

One  other  variety  of  a stencilled  character  has  a 
blue  ground  on  which  leaves  appear,  the  rest  of 
the  surface  being  a rich  copper  lustre.  The  sheen 
of  the  glaze  is  nearly  as  dark  over  the  dark  blue 
ground  as  over  the  brown  ware,  another  illustration  of 
effect  of  the  groundwork  shade  on  the  appearance  of 

72 


Fig.  34 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

the  lustre.  The  stencilling  is  a little  ragged  in  this 
example,  but  is  interesting. 

LILAC  RESIST 

There  are  many  copper  lustre  goblets  having  bands 
of  lilac  resist  work.  They  are  customary  examples 
of  comparatively  late  work,  and  call  for  no  special 
comment.  The  writer  has 
seen  a jug  of  the  shape 
printed  as  Fig.  22,  the  body 
of  which  had  a similar 
floral  treatment. 

RESIST  IN  TWO  SHADES 

A copper  lustre  jug  of 
fine  modelling  was  re- 
cently seen  with  a deep 
band  of  lilac  resist  (i.e.  on 
white  ground)  at  the  top, 
and  the  body  had  similar 
resist  pattern  on  a pale  blue  ground  ; the  finely  modelled 
hp,  handle,  and  base  being  treated  with  full  copper  lustre 
on  brown  clay.  It  was  a most  unusual  specimen,  but 
badly  damaged. 

Often  our  information  has  to  be  secured  from  damaged 
specimens,  but  a description  of  the  class  of  work  may 
help  a collector  to  find  a perfect  example. 

SILVER  RESIST 

Some  regard  has  been  had  to  the  density  of  the 
paste  and  the  smooth  finish  of  the  surface  in  selecting 

73 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

an  example  to  start  the  silver  resist  section.  The 
original  of  Fig.  35  illustrates  very  clean  potting  com- 
bined with  an  exceptionally  even  surface,  to  which 
excellent  tracery  has  been  added  in  the  usual  resist  style 
associated  with  a white  ground. 


ONE  BIRD 
While  only  a 


pint  jug,  it 


Fig.  36 


IS  very  heavy,  and  the 
handle  attached  is 
fragile  ! Its  interior 
has  the  ordinary  white 
lining,  the  base  having 
the  ring  in  the  paste 
which  is  sometimes 
attributed  to  Leeds. 
Most  of  the  “ bird  ” 
class  of  jug  represent 
one  on  each  side,  but 
this  has  only  one  bird 
m the  front  : the 


photograph  has  been  so  taken  to  show  it  clearly.  The 
manner  in  which  the  glaze  has  been  removed  from  the 
neck  is  also  revealed  by  our  print,  and  the  rough  mark- 
ing offers  a contrast  to  the  finer  lines  beneath.  It 
an  unusual  model,  not  marked. 


IS 


TWO  BIRDS 

Before  leaving  the  resist  birds  in  white  on  a silver 
ground,  we  show  another  print  (Fig.  36)  of  a straight- 
sided mug  from  Dr.  Harper’s  collection.  If  an  ordinary 
jug  had  been  selected,  only  one  side  could  have  been 

74 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

printed  ; the  mug,  however,  illustrates  the  usual  bird  in  a 
normal  attitude,  and  a second  one  in  flight  in  the  distance. 
It  is  probable  that  this  mug  was  issued  from  Etruria. 
These  two  examples  close  our  descriptions  of  resist 
birds,  so  far  as  silver  and  white  are  concerned. 

VERY  FINE  SPRAY 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  very  fine  outlines 
sometimes  found  on  examples  which  some  collectors 
associate  with  the  work 
of  the  Old  Leeds  group 
of  potteries,  and  the  mug 
Fig.  37  may  reasonably  be 
taken  as  a fitting  illustra- 
tion of  fine  work.  The 
wording 

“ Eliz^^^  Beeston 
Robinson  ” 

occurs  in  resist  style  on 
white,  with  simple  lines  at  the  rims.  On  each  side  of 
the  plain  silvered  handle  there  is  an  exceptionally  fine 
spray.  The  one  visible  m the  print  represents  the 
acorn  and  oak  leaf,  the  delicate  tracery  being  exces- 
sively fine. 

Beeston  is  a fairly  common  name  in  the  north,  and 
there  is  a Beeston  near  Leeds. 

Another  mug  is  marked  Dinah,”  with  floral  sprays  ; 
it  possibly  came  from  the  same  pottery.  We  however 
prefer  the  surface  of  the  one  printed.  In  each  example 
the  silver  glaze  is  most  brilliant. 


Fig.  37 


75 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


LEEDS  CROSSED  ARROWS 

As  an  excellent  representation  of  the  better  class  of 
floral  wreaths  shown  in  white  on  silver  ground,  we  include 
one  other  print  (Fig.  38).  This  is  a distinctly  clean  and 
graceful  pattern,  that  does  credit  to  the  pottery  from 
which  it  emanated.  The  motif  of  the  spray  is  repeated 
in  miniature  on  the  handle  of  the  jug.  In  some  old  w’ares 

issued  at  Leeds  the  base 
has  been  found  marked 
with  a sort  of  crossed 
arrows,  and  a close 
examination  of  the  pat- 
tern in  resist  reveals  an 
outline  of  that  character. 
The  shape  of  the  jug  is 
identical  with  several 
attributed  to  Leeds,  and 
may  have  been  issued 
there,  but  we  do  not  make  a definite  claim  that  either 
this  or  the  mug  at  Fig.  37  came  from  the  Old  Leeds 
group. 

Some  unusual  jugs  in  white  and  silver  resist  introduce 
horses,  stags,  or  lions.  The  latter  is  a rare  example 
from  the  Ward  collection. 

We  must  now  deal  with  some  rarer  specimens  of 
the  ground  shades  associated  with  silver  resist. 

The  question  may  be  asked  whether  the  bird  designs 
or  the  floral  ones  are  the  earlier  ? The  bewildering 
examples  which  emanated  from  Staffordshire  will  never 
be  classified  to  the  satisfaction  of  experts,  and  those  with 

76 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 

the  greatest  knowledge  on  the  subject  hesitate  to  express 
definite  opinions.  It  however  seems  a little  unlikely 
that  the  earlier  patterns  embrace  a coloured  ground  in 
addition  to  the  white  one,  on  the  same  piece. 


ORANGE  AND  SILVER 

This  occurs  on  a straight-sided  mug  with  a clear 
floral  pattern  of  somewhat  set  character.  The  top 
band  near  the  rim  is 
silver  resist  with  white, 
but  the  body  ground 
IS  of  rich  orange  and 
silver  resist.  Unfor- 
tunately black  and 
white  print  cannot 
convey  the  colouring, 
hence  its  omission. 

It  is  needless  to  add 
that  examples  of  this 
kind  are  unusual,  and 
we  have  no  evidence  to  offer  as  to  the  pottery  which 
issued  them. 


Fig.  39 


RESIST  WITH  BLUE  (HUNTING) 

Another  paragraph  in  this  chapter  has  dealt  with 
a few  of  the  interesting  historical  points  affecting  the 
underglaze  printing  associated  with  silver  lustre.  Fig. 
39  shows  a fine  example,  and  is  one  of  a set  of  three. 
Unfortunately  silver  lustre  and  its  allied  decoration  are 
exceedingly  difficult  to  photograph,  and  the  originals 
need  to  be  examined  to  distinguish  characteristics 

77 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

of  most  interest  to  the  collector.  This  piece  has  been 
taken  from  Dr.  Harper’s  rich  collection,  to  which  the 
orange  and  silver  mug  also  belongs. 

The  writer  has  another  small  jug  with  a Morland 
sportsman  m underglaze  blue,  carrying  a gun,  the  foliage 
and  details  of  the  figure  being  picked  out  with  overglaze 
colours.  This  is  probably  a later  specimen. 

RESIST  DATED  PIECES 

We  are  once  more  indebted  to  Dr.  Harper  for  the 
original  prints  of  Figs.  40  and  41 — two  exceptionally 
fine  resist  jugs,  both  dated  pieces  of  the  kind,  so  dear 
to  the  heart  of  collectors  of  English  pottery. 

The  jug  at  Fig.  40  with  a circular  white  panel 
carries  the  wording  : 

Elizabeth  (&  ?) 

Thomas  Hill, 

Top  Longdon, 

Staffordshire 
Born  April  7 
1794. 

The  tracery  pattern  around  the  jug  is  most  interesting, 
while  the  rim  displays  a different  treatment  m the 
usual  silver  and  white  resist  style. 

The  jug  at  Fig.  41  has,  in  addition  to  the  name  and 
date,  a blue  ground  to  the  band  of  resist  on  the  neck. 
The  wording  on  the  front,  in  resist  style,  is  : 

Mary  Sidebottom 
1810. 

All  lustre  collectors  will  appreciate  the  interest  of  these 
two  valuable  and  decorative  specimens. 

78 


OLD  RESIST  LUSTRE 


RESIST  AND  PANEL  OF  BIRDS  IN  COLOUR 
Most  of  the  resist  jugs  we  meet  are  fairly  tall,  the  boat- 
shaped  variety,  which  is  common  m the  later  patterned 
wares,  seldom  being  seen.  A choice  example  is  in 
the  same  fine  collection.  The  description  is  “ silver 
resist  decoration  with  panels  of  exotic  birds  in  colour, 
principally  red.” 


Fig.  40  Fig.  41 

PANEL  VIEWS 

With  regard  to  the  overglaze  views,  it  is  certainly 
curious  that  the  majority  of  the  resist  wares  present 
views  of  country  residences  in  the  Queen  Anne  style. 
They  occur  in  violet,  brick  red,  and  purple.  Other 
panels  have  been  seen  in  black  overglaze,  one  interest- 
ing specimen  having  Masonic  emblems  surrounded 
with  resist.  Staffordshire  did  net  copy  the  styles 
which  had  been  popular  at  Worcester  thirty  years 
earlier. 


79 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


WATTEAU  PRINTS 

The  Watteau  prints  introduced  there  by  Hancock, 
following  the  engravings  of  Ravenet  and  others,  French 
artists,  for  a while  held  sway  and  we  see  a reflection  of 
that  style  on  the  wares  made  at  Liverpool. 

The  absence  of  such  fine  work  from  the  Staffordshire 
resist  jugs  can  hardly  be  attributed  to  ignorance  of  what 
had  been  done  at  Worcester  and  Liverpool.  Perhaps  the 

charming  little  scenes 
of  French  Court  origin 
had  gone  out  of  fashion, 
or  the  Queen  Anne 
views  were  introduced 
to  show  the  seats  of 
various  patrons  of  the 
potteries,  in  preference 
to  the  artificial  land- 
scapes and  fountains 
of  Versailles  ? Some 
collectors  may  have  examples  of  the  latter. 

Fig.  42  carries  a print  m lilac  overglaze,  not  unlike 
many  later  prints  from  Worcester,  and  the  jug  may 
date  from  such  a period. 

There  is  just  one  shade  the  writer  would  like  to  hear 
of — viz.  a clear  coral  pink  by  the  overglaze  process. 
Most  of  the  red  shades  are  brick-red. 


80 


VIII.  BRISTOL,  SWANSEA,  AND 
OTHER  “ LUSTRE  ” POTTERIES 

The  traditional  decorated  lustre  of  Bristol  : 
Swansea  gold  and  silver  lustre  : Liverpool  : 

Old  Leeds  group  : Castleford  : Don  Pottery  : 
Newcastle- on-Tyne  : Sunderland. 

The  obscurity  which  surrounds  the  manufacture 
of  certain  wares  will  doubtless  remain,  but  the 
traditional  details  are  persistent,  and  in  certain 
instances  afford  our  only  information. 

When  “ lustre  ” became  general,  experiments  and 
probably  manufacture  on  a large  or  a small  scale  took 
place  at  potteries  outside  Staffordshire  and  Sunderland  ; 
that  the  practice  did  not  extend  in  the  west  to  such 
important  centres  as  Bristol  and  Swansea,  where 
potteries  had  been  worked  from  an  early  date,  seems 
somewhat  inexplicable,  if  true. 

BRISTOL 

BRISLINGTON 

The  good  people  of  Bristol  and  the  adjoining  village 
of  Brislington  about  the  year  1 770  must  have  been  well 
acquainted  with  lustrous  wares  of  Spanish  appearance, 
in  reference  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
important  researches  of  Mr.  W.  J.  Pountney — and 
F 81 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

these  must  have  attracted  considerable  attention — and 
possibly  travellers,  merchants  and  others  sent  accounts 
of  them  into  other  parts  of  the  Kingdom.  We  know 
there  was  communication  between  Bristol  and  Stafford- 
shire : it  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Ring,  of  Bristol, 
engaged  Hassells  to  make  earthenware  for  him,  and  the 
latter  sent  to  his  home  district  for  good  men.  This 
was  as  late  as  1 786,  a date  after  the  experiments  affecting 
lustrous  surfaces  recorded  to  have  been  made  by  Josiah 
Wedgwood  between  1776  and  1790. 

RING 

J.  Ring  started  at  the  Water  Lane  Pottery,  Bristol,  in 
1 784,  being  joined  by  Hassells  m 1 786  ; but  so  far  as  can 
be  ascertained  there  are  no  “ lustre  ” examples  in  existence 
which  were  made  at  Bristol  anywhere  near  this  date  : a 
detail  which  Mr.  Pountney,  the  greatest  living  authority 
on  early  Brislington  and  early  Bristol  potteries,  confirms. 
The  shapes  attributed  to  Ring  are  clean  and  artistic  ; 
had  lustre  been  made  at  Bristol  m those  days,  it  is 
probable  that  moulds  similar  to  those  used  in  Stafford- 
shire would  have  produced  Bristol  examples  identical 
in  most  respects.  Probably  in  1786  the  amount  of 
lustre  ware  in  actual  circulation  from  Staffordshire 
was  exceedingly  limited. 

POUNTNEY 

The  son  of  the  Pountney  of  the  Bristol  Water  Lane 
Pottery,  Mr.  W.  J.  Pountney  has  recently  made  ex- 
cavations at  Brislington  and  also  to  some  extent  in 
Bristol.  He  has  tried  to  find  evidence  of  “ lustre 
82 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 

having  been  made  at  Bristol  In  the  earlier  days.  He 
does  not  consider  that  any  was  made  at  his  father’s 
pottery,  but  quotes  an  extract  from  Matthew’s  Bristol 
Directory  for  1 846  as  follows  : 

WHITE 

“ White  J.  (Jr.)  and  James.” 

“ Egyptian  and  Black  Tea-pots,  Stone  jug  ” 

“ and  GOLD  LUSTRE  WARE.” 

This  proves  that  m the  year  1846  the  firm  m question 
were  selling  the  wares  mentioned. 

Potteries  at  Redcross  Street  and  Baptist  Mills,  Bristol, 
were  occupied  by  Messrs.  White,  and  the  first  evidence 
which  Mr.  Pountney  is  at  present  able  to  find  in  regard 
to  them  refers  to  1841.  Several  advertisements  appear 
after  1846,  but  the  mention  of  GOLD  LUSTRE  WARE  is 
omitted. 

HIGH  GLAZE 

The  work  of  White’s  Baptist  Mills  pottery  is 
represented  by  a black  ware  having  relief  designs 
copied  more  or  less  from  the  Wedgwood  and  Stafford- 
shire products,  yet  lacking  the  rigidity  of  outline 
associated  with  the  best  periods.  White’s  ware, 
however,  is  by  no  means  inferior  : the  remarkable 

feature  about  it  is  the  high  Jackfield-hke  glaze  on  the 
interior  of  the  teapots  and  sugar  boxes,  and  the  outer 
surface  has  an  appearance  similar  to  glassy  Welsh  coal 
Specimens  can  occasionally  be  purchased  m the  district 
of  Bristol. 


83 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


GOLD  LUSTRE 

The  gold  lustre,  so  far  as  can  be  traced  up  to  the 
present,  if  actually  manufactured  by  White,  or  by  some 
other  Bristol  pottery,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
marked,  and  there  may  be  little  to  distinguish  some  of 
it  from  Staffordshire  wares. 

EXCAVATIONS 

Digging  has  recently  been  conducted  in  the  parish 
of  Redcliff,  Bristol,  on  the  site  of  an  old  pottery  and 
general  tip.  At  about  a foot  from  the  original  surface 
of  the  tip  two  pieces  of  lustrous  ware  have  been  found. 
They  are  : 

SILVER 

(1)  A small  fragment  Jackfield-like  glaze  on  one 
side  (doubtless  the  interior)  and  an  exceptionally  dense 
plain  silver  glaze  on  the  other,  equal  to  a mirror. 

COPPER 

(2)  A larger  fragment  of  identical  clay,  with  a similar 
lining  and  rich  copper  lustre  laid  on  a very  smooth 
black  ground,  in  fact  a ground  similar  to  the  interior. 

Both  these  pieces  may  have  been  imported  to  Bristol, 
but  here  is  interesting  evidence  that  lustre  of  merit 
was  being  circulated  in  Bristol,  and  of  a variety  which 
hitherto  the  writer  has  never  seen  a specimen. 

BAPTIST  MILLS 

Two  conclusions  are  open  to  us  : either  White 

imported  these  wares  or  they  were  produced  at  his 

84 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 

factory.  There  is  proof  of  the  manufacture  of  the  black 
wares  with  a Jackfield-like  glaze,  and  finding  fragments 
to  which  lustre  had  been  applied  as  a form  of  decoration, 
strongly  suggests  that  solid  “ lustre  ” in  the  true  sense 
of  the  term  was  made  in  Bristol. 

The  probability  of  this  ware  having  been  sent  from 
Swansea  cannot  be  entertained.  That  the  fragments 
may  represent  some  evidence  of  Yorkshire  lustre  or 
Staffordshire  is  probable.  Until  experts  prove  the 
contrary,  we  are  content  to  class  the  fragments  as  Old 
Bristol. 

RESIST  WARES 

Many  pieces  of  painted  and  partially  printed  ordinary 
wares  are  known  to  have  been  made  at  Bristol,  circa 
1810  to  1830,  bearing  such  dates,  and  the  name  of  the 
recipient  ; and  if  resist  lustres,  for  example,  had  been 
produced  m Bristol,  as  they  already  had  been  at  the 
Northern  Potteries  and  m Staffordshire  some  years 
earlier,  there  should  certainly  be  quite  a number  of 
specimens  in  or  near  Bristol  to  prove  such  manufacture. 

In  the  face  of  our  inquiries  it  would  appear  that  the 
tradition  of  “ Bristol  decorated  lustre  ” may  be  an 
erroneous  designation  ; the  term  may  have  arisen  in 
consequence  of  Bristol  being  then,  as  it  is  now,  a large 
distributing  centre,  and  having  at  one  time  produced 
some  old  lustre  of  merit. 

There  is  one  other  feature  for  consideration,  i.e. 
the  possibility  of  Bristol  being  quoted  in  connexion 
with  the  lustre  usually  recognized  as  “ Brislington  ” 
near  Bristol. 


85 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


“ B ” MARK 

The  writer  has  seen  two  specimens  of  relief  silver 
ware  on  the  base  of  which  the  letter  “ B ’’  has  been 
scratched  in  a cursive  fashion.  Doubtless  they  are 
Staffordshire  products. 

A silver  resist  jug  was  offered  for  sale  some  years  ago 
which  had  some  characteristics  of  the  Bristol  potteries, 
and  a cross  was  cut  m the  paste 
on  the  base,  something  like  the 
Bristol  porcelain  mark. 

ELIZA  FIGURES 
A characteristic  style  of  deco- 
ration at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  the 
quasi-Chmese  influence  m the 
transfer  printing,  thus  one 
finds  the  “ Eliza  ” figures  of 
Lowestoft  association  portrayed 
on  white  slip  grounds  and  combined  with  deep  copper 
lustre  glaze.  Instead  of  being  “ Long”  the  figures  are 
dwarfed,  for  inclusion  in  the  white  bands,  and  are 
associated  with  the  well-known  Staffordshire  baskets 
and  roses  of  enormous  proportions.  This  decoration 
sometimes  occurs  on  Ming  shaped  spill  vases,  and  several 
specimens  have  been  met  m the  Bristol  district.  It  is 
no/,  however,  advanced  that  they  were  necessarily  made 
at  any  of  the  Bristol  potteries.  We  include  an  example 
(Fig.  43).  The  outline  is  transferred,  and  the  figures 
and  foliage  are  coloured  m bright  pigments. 

86 


Fig.  43 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 


JOHNSTON  1884 

A pair  of  large  vases  to  which  a mottled  lustre  had 
been  applied  were  recently  shown  to  the  writer.  They 
were  marked  in  the  paste  (impressed)  Bristol  X X,  a 
sort  of  crossed  swords  mark,  with  the  date  1884.  Mr. 
Pountneyto  whom  the  writer  is  indebted  for  a sight  of 
them  says  they  were  made  and  dated  m March  1884 
by  Patrick  Johnston. 

SWANSEA 

The  renown  of  Swansea  gold  and  silver  lustre  was 
decided  traditionally  long  ago  : pretty  well  every  fine 
unmarked  copper  lustre  brought  forward  is  attributed 
to  Swansea  and  the  expression  “ Swansea  lustre  ” is 
familiar  to  all  collectors.  There  seems  to  be  far  more 
evidence  m favour  of  silver  and  gold  (copper)  lustres 
having  been  manufactured  m the  Swansea  district  than 
m any  other  Western  pottery.  It  is  known  that  large 
quantities  of  copper  ore  were  imported  from  Cuba 
to  Swansea  for  other  purposes  than  lustre,  which  how- 
ever rendered  the  copper  available  m a purified  form  for 
its  production  without  much  trouble. 

CAMBRIAN  POTTERIES 
SILVER  LUSTRE 

In  Mr.  A.  Hayden’s  : “ Chats  on  English  Earthen- 
ware ” the  statement  is  made  that  silver  lustre  was 
discovered  by  Thomas  Wedgwood,  youngest  son  of 
Josiah  Wedgwood,  about  1791.  From  the  alphabetical 
list  of  marked  lustre  included  in  this  handbook  it  will 

87 


COLLECTINGOL.DLUSTREWARE 

be  seen  that  previous  to  1 790  the  Swansea  factory  was 
known  as  the  “ Cambrian  Potteries,  ” having  been 
established  in  1 769.  We  must  first  of  all  consider  the 
Cambrian  Potteries.  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a 
specimen  of  ware  with  a band  of  silver  lustre  marked 
“ Cambrian,”  and  unless  it  was  made  and  so  marked 
after  Haynes  took  the  factory  in  1 790,  the  only  alternative 
assumption  is  that  silver  lustre  was  used  in  the  Swansea 
district  in  1790  or  even  earlier;  the  late  Mr.  Duncan, 
of  Cardiff,  held  the  opinion  that  silver  lustre  was  used 
at  the  Old  Cambrian  Works.  This  establishes  an 
important  fact — about  Swansea.  Moreover,  the  late 
Mr.  Duncan  had  a pair  of  candlesticks  decorated  with 
plain  silver  and  a little  resist  silver,  from  a mould 
identical  with  specimens  marked  ” Swansea  ” which 
were  not  lustred.  The  design  of  the  resist  work  is  the 
Vine  pattern,  a motif  of  great  antiquity  used  on  the  early 
Hispano  Mauro  wares.  The  same  pattern  is  frequently 
painted  on  white  slip  bands  applied  to  copper  lustre 
probably  of  Swansea  or  Staffordshire  make.  It  also 
occurs  on  a rare  gold  lustre  as  a stencilled  pattern  m 
Dr.  Harper’s  collection. 

DILLWYN 

Lewis  Weston  Dillwyn  took  over  the  potteries  m 
1802,  and  it  is  in  connexion  with  his  name  that  evidence 
of  lustre  having  been  used  at  Swansea  to  a considerable 
extent  is  firmly  established. 

RESIST  WARES 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  resist 
lustres  were  probably  being  produced  somewhat 
88 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 

extensively  in  the  Northern  district  and  in  Staffordshire, 
and  probably  this  was  well  known  at  Swansea,  because 
we  read  that  the  painters  Young  from  the  Bristol  factory 
1803-1806,  Pardoe  from  Derby  with  floral  embellish- 
ments, and  Evans  also  with  good  floral  work,  came  to 
Swansea.  It  is  known  that  silver  lustre  was  placed  on 
some  porcelains  issued  at  Derby,  and  Derby  artists 
sought  work  m other  districts.  Thus  attempts  may 
have  been  started  at  Swansea  to  produce  elaborate 
resist  patterns,  a process  of  which  there  is  some  evidence 
in  the  Cambrian  days. 

If  however  Swansea  did  not  produce  gold  or  silver 
pottery  with  stencilled  or  resist  designs,  beyond  the 
use  of  lustre  as  a minor  decorative  effect,  the  Stafford- 
shire and  Northern  potteries  generally  must  be  awarded 
the  credit  for  practically  all  English  resist  lustres,  in 
view  of  the  doubt  that  Bristol  ever  produced  any,  except 
of  an  experimental  character,  covered  with  a lustrous 
glaze. 

MARKED  PORCELAINS 

With  regard  to  porcelains  ornamented  with  lustrous 
effects  on  white  grounds  there  are  at  least  two  examples 
on  our  record  : one  marked  “ DILLWYN  ” and  another 
“ DILLWYN,  SWANSEA  ” in  pink  lustre. 

These  examples  may  have  been  made  from  circa 
1814  to  1817,  a period  when  it  was  more  common  for 
pottery  and  porcelains  to  be  marked  than  from  1790 
to  1810. 

The  ornamentation  of  porcelains  with  lustrous  effects 
was  a common  practice  throughout  the  potteries  when 

89 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

lustre  had  become  popular.  Tea  sets  were  especially 
in  demand. 


SWANSEA  COTTAGE  WARES 


It  would  be  interesting  to  determine  whether  the  late 
soft  porcelains  known  as  “ cottage  Swansea,”  often 
prettily  decorated  with  coloured  prints  and  lustre, 
were  produced  at  Swansea  in  its  later  days  of  manu- 
facture, i.e.  during  the  earthenware  period.  According 

to  the  historical  data 
we  read  that  Swansea 
porcelains  were  not 
made  after  circa  1817, 
but  the  manufacture 
of  earthenware  was 
continued  until  about 
1870,  when  the  works 
were  closed. 

Thetransferredsub- 
jects  which  appear  on 
the  cottage  Swansea  varieties  rather  resemble  the  print- 
ing on  recognized  Swansea  earthenwares.  Probably  the 
Spodes  produced  a large  quantity  of  Staffordshire 
wares  carrying  designs  similar  to  the  Swansea  transfers, 
but  the  traditional  nomenclature  ” cottage  Swansea  ” 
doubtless  had  some  basis. 


Fig.  44 


SWANSEA  OR  SPODE 

We  include  a print  (Fig.  44)  of  a copper  lustre  jug  about 
three  inches  high  with  a deep  lilac  transfer  ” Flower  girl 
and  little  boy.”  The  boy  on  the  reverse  side  is  re- 

90 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 

presented  with  a top  hat,  not  however  equal  to  that 
worn  by  the  ladies  in  the  Welsh  costumes  ; yet  the 
view  has  a greater  resemblance  to  the  Swansea  print- 
ing than  any  we  have  seen.  The  jug  has  been  in 
the  possession  of  a family  with  Welsh  associations 
resident  in  Bristol  for  nearly  one  hundred  years,  but 
there  is  no  exact  information  as  to  date  or  place  of 
purchase. 

Some  interesting  matter,  with  fine  illustrations,  on 
Swansea  lustre  will  be  found  in  the  Connoisseur  for 
July,  1904. 

To  decide  the  controversy  a piece  of  pottery  is  wanted 
fully  covered  with  silver  or  copper  glaze,  having  the 
impressed  mark  “ Swansea,”  and  made  about  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  To  expect  the 
discovery  of  such  a piece  marked  “ Cambrian  ” is 
perhaps  a vain  hope. 

LIVERPOOL  LUSTRE 

In  connexion  with  the  products  of  the  Liverpool 
Pot  Works  generally  there  is  great  obscurity,  but  the 
pottery  m the  Liverpool  group,  with  which  the  pro- 
duction of  lustre  is  generally  associated,  is  the  “ Her- 
culaneum Pottery,”  m existence,  according  to  some 
authorities,  from  1796  to  1841.  There  is  a record  of 
a number  of  workmen  migrating  to  this  pottery 
from  Staffordshire,  who  promptly  took  up  the  manu- 
facture of  the  popular  wares  of  their  day,  m which 
certain  varieties  of  lustre  were  m all  probability  in- 
cluded. 

In  the  Mayer  collection,  containing  specimens 

91 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

manufactured  at  the  Herculaneum  Pottery,  a large 
resist  jug  is  included  which  is  inscribed  : 

“ Ex  dona  of  T.  Halton 
to  William  Halliday 

Everton  Coffee  House.” 

In  the  catalogue  of  the  ” Norman  ” collection  of 
Silver  Lustre,  dispersed  in  London  in  February  1912, 
the  following  occurs  : 

“No.  116.  A Liverpool  mug  in  silver  resist  with 
inscription.  Mary  Sidebottom,  1810.” 
whilst 

No.  94,  in  the  same  catalogue,  described  “ A Leeds 
jug,  silver  ground  and  border  of  blue  and  silver 
with  inscription.  Mary  Sidebottom,  1810.” 

In  the  cases  quoted  above  from  the  catalogue,  the 
jugs  doubtless  showed  characteristics  which  enabled 
the  author  of  the  catalogue  to  classify  one  as  “ Liverpool  ” 
and  the  other  as  “ Leeds.” 

OLD  LEEDS  LUSTRE 

Leeds  had  a group  of  factories  producing  wares 
similar  in  paste  and  decoration,  and  the  management  in 
some  instances  was  in  the  same  hands,  i.e.  new  fac- 
tories taken  over  were  worked  by  persons  who  had  been 
previously  employed  in  an  adjoining  factory.  This 
gives  great  difficulty  to  the  classification  of  the  wares. 

With  regard  to  lustre,  the  cross  on  the  base  of 
the  remarkable  resist  silver  gallon  jug  illustrated  in 
the  Connoisseur  for  December,  1907,  from  the  Ward 

92 


“LUSTRE”  POTTERIES 

collection  Is  generally  accepted  as  indirect  evidence  of 
silver  lustre  having  been  issued  from  the  group  of 
Leeds  Old  Potteries. 

The  author  Is  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  R.  Kidson,  the 
recognized  authority  on  “ Leeds,”  for  the  following 
letter  : 

...”  I have  no  evidence  that  Leeds  was  the  earliest 
in  the  field  regarding  the  making  of  lustre  ware.  . . The 
difficulty  about  lustre  ware  is  the  absence  of  any  factory 
mark.  The  incised  cross  in  the  clay  I do  not  take  to  be 
a factory  mark,  and  certainly  not  Leeds ; I should  say 
it  is  a workman’s  mark. 

“ In  all  my  experience  I have  only  found  two  marked 
pieces  of  Leeds  pottery  silver  lustre  ware,  and  I have 
never  seen  any  Leeds  copper  lustre  ware.  They  appear 
to  have  made  more  of  this  m the  north,  probably  at 
Newcastle  and  Sunderland. 

“ I should  say  that  very  little  was  made  m Yorkshire. 
Staffordshire  and  the  North  of  England  seem  to  have 
been  the  largest  makers,  but  as  stated,  the  absence  of 
factory  marks  makes  it  very  puzzling.  ” 

CASTLEFORD  POTTERY  NEAR  LEEDS 

A pottery  was  established  here  by  David  Dunderdale 
about  1790  and  it  is  known  that  lustrous  specimens 
were  produced.  Unfortunately  no  marked  specimen 
IS  available. 

DON  POTTERY 

This  pottery  was  founded  In  1790  at  SWINTON, 
Yorks,  by  John  Green,  a potter  from  Leeds,  and 

93 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

doubtless  a considerable  quantity  of  ware  is  in  exist- 
ence, with  the  characteristics  of  Leeds  wares. 

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE 

Various  firms  have  produced  wares  at  Newcastle 
from  about  1 780,  and  a very  large  quantity  of  lustrous 
effect  combined  with  printing  has  survived.  The 
lustre  varied  very  greatly  in  character,  and  out  of  the 
enormous  quantities  produced  a few  nice  specimens 
may  be  found.  Mottled  and  pink  effects  combined 
with  rough  colours  are  one  of  the  chief  characteristics. 

SUNDERLAND 

Several  potteries  are  recorded  in  this  district,  and  a 
considerable  quantity  of  Sunderland  lustre,  artistic  or 
otherwise,  may  be  found.  Sunderland  firms  frequently 
marked  their  specimens  such  as  : 

J.  Phillips.  Hylton  Pottery 

Phillips  and  Co. 

Dixon  and  Co. 

One  specimen  is  marked  “ Dixon  and  Co.,”  im- 
pressed, but  the  work  is  not  of  a high  merit. 

Frog  mugs  are  often  mentioned  m connexion  with 
this  group  of  potteries,  and  some  reference  must  there- 
fore be  made  to  them.  The  mugs  frequently  decorated 
with  copper  lustre  were  made  with  the  model  of  a frog 
attached  inside,  and  a person  unaware  of  the  occupant 
would  be  startled,  when  the  discovery  was  made. 


94 


IX.  MARKS 

Names  or  initials  on  marked  lustred  wares  ; 
Decorators'  marks  : Other  firms  who  used  lustrous 
e0ects. 

IN  the  early  days  of  English  pottery  it  was  not  the 
custom  to  mark  the  ordinary  wares,  and  this 
omission  applied  to  the  cheaper  products  much 
more  than  it  did  to  the  expensive  pieces. 

In  connexion  with  the  metallic  glazes  the  absence 
of  marked  examples  is  well  known. 

Lustrous  specimens  carry  an  impressed  name  or 
letter,  if  the  mark  is  not  in  relief,  when  marked  at  all. 
Sometimes  the  name  is  printed  in  colour,  or  written 
on  a lighter  ground.  In  a few  instances  initials  are 
scratched  m the  lustrous  glaze. 

In  the  oldest  examples  the  name  was  impressed 
into  the  paste  before  the  piece  was  glazed,  i.e.  before 
the  body  glaze  was  applied,  and  before  the  full  lustre 
glaze  was  added  ; consequently  the  name  was  ob- 
literated by  the  firing. 

An  alphabetical  list  has  been  prepared  for  use  by  the 
reader,  who  may,  it  is  hoped,  be  able  to  add  a few  more 
names  from  information  m his  possession. 


95 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 


Name  or  Initial 

“A” 

Allertons 

Aynsley 

Remarks 

Probably  Aynsley  {see  Aynsley)  or  Allerton 
Staffordshire.  Circa  1831  and  onwards. 

(J.  Aynsley),  Lane  End,  Staffordshire.  Circa 
1800. 

“ B ” (Impressed) 
“B”  (cursive) 

Barlow,  Staffordshire.  Circa  1800. 
Scratched  on  silver  lustre.  Probably  Stafford- 
shire, 1820. 

Bailey  and  Batkin 

Longton,  Staffordshire.  One  of  the  earliest 
known  firms  who  made  silver  lustre. 

Bailey  and  Harvey 
Bott  and  Co. 

Bratt 

Cup  marked.  Dr.  Thorpe’s  collection. 
Staffordshire. 

“ George  Bratt  ” name  appears  on  silver 

Cambrian 

piece. 

Piece  in  British  Museum.  Factory  1769  to 

1790.  See  also  Dillwyn. 

Copeland  and  Garrett  1833  to  1847. 

“ D ” Probably  Davenport  of  Longport.  Circa  1800 


Dawson 

Dillwyn 

Sunderland  group.  Circa  1810. 

(Swansea  ) Previous  to  1790  known  as  Cam- 
brian Potteries.  Purchased  by  Dillwyn 
1802;  closed  1870. 

Dixon  and  Co 
E.  Mayer 

Sunderland  group.  Circa  1820. 

Staffordshire  firm  of  great  antiquity.  Made 
lustres  of  fine  finish  contemporaneously 
with  Wedgwood.  Circa  1790. 

Fell 

“ G ” (Masonic) 
Harley 

Newcastle  group.  Circa  1813. 

Uncertain. 

T.  Harley,  Lane  End, Staffordshire.  Circa  1800. 
Pineapple  jug,  lustred  decoration. 

Lakln  and  Poole 
Leeds 

Hanley,  Staffordshire,  1770  to  1795. 

Group  of  Potteries.  Fine  resist  silver 
specimens.  Circa  1790. 

Lockett  and  Sons 
Mayer  and  Newbold 
Meigh  f 

C.  Meigh  and  Sons  i 

96 

Lane  End,  Staffordshire,  1829. 

Lane  End,  Staffordshire.  Circa  1800. 

Old  Hall,  Hanley,  Staffordshire.  Circa  1790. 

MARKS 


Name  or  Initial 

Remarks 

Minton 

Circa  1790  and  onwards. 

P.  and  U. 

Poole  and  Unwin.  Longton,  1870  (modern). 

Scott 

Scott  and  Co.,  Sunderland  group  (Southwick), 
1 789.  Copper  lustre  pattern  on  cup 
and  saucer  at  South  Kensington. 

Spode 

1770  and  onwards. 

Swansea 

See  Dillwyn. 

Warburton 

Cobridge  factory.  Circa  1802. 

Wedgwood 

Circa  1760  and  onwards. 

Wlleman 

J.  F.  Wileman.  Circa  1860.  Lustred 
cream  ware. 

Wilson 

Hanley,  Staffordshire.  Circa  1 786  to  1802,  &c 

W. 

Probably  Wilson,  but  uncertain. 

E.Wood 

Burslem.  1 783  and  onwards. 

Wood  and  Gildwell 

Burslem.  1790  to  1818. 

DECORATORS’  MARKS 

In  connexion  with  the  more  important  of  the  English 
porcelain  factories,  especially  Worcester,  the  marks 
made  by  workmen  are  always  carefully  considered, 
and  several  writers  have  tabulated  such  marks  for  the 
information  of  collectors. 

The  persons  who  decorated  lustres  in  the  old  days, 
probably  had  not  the  faintest  idea  that  a hundred  years 
later  the  marks  on  their  roughly  finished  wares  would 
form  the  subject  of  speculation  and  inquiry. 

Occasionally  they  added  some  mark  or  initial  to  the 
base  of  the  piece  with  the  pigments  they  had  been 
using,  as  was  done  on  fine  porcelain  work. 

The  mark  might  be  meant  to  indicate  the  size  of  the 
jug,  or  some  special  detail,  or  a special  customer. 
Sometimes  only  a “ tick  ” occurs. 


G 


97 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

The  cross — a very  early  mark  in  ceramics — was  used 
at  Leeds  and  Bristol,  and  examples  of  Spode’s  ware  are 
sometimes  marked  w’ith  a cross. 

One  copper  lustre  jug  has  the  Coalport  mark  of  a 
rose  m green  and  yellow  pigments  roughly  painted  over 
the  copper  glaze  on  the  base. 

Nearly  all  the  marks  such  as  Dixon  and  Co.,  Bott 
and  Co.,  and  many  others  mostly  ending  “ and  Co.” 
not  infrequently  found  on  lustred  pottery  (usually  on 
the  base  where  the  ground  is  white  cream,  or  buff  m 
colour)  can  be  accepted  as  comparatively  late  specimens 
when  compared  with  the  old  lustres  probably  made 
about  1800. 

OTHER  FIRMS  WHO  USED  LUSTROUS  EFFECTS 

In  addition  to  the  firms  we  have  given,  the  under- 
mentioned as  well  as  several  other  firms  not  included 
— are  on  record  as  having  used  lustre  decoration  : 

Edwards^ 

Cork  I Dalehall,  Staffordshire. 

Edge  } 

Till  of  the  Sytch.  Burslem  1850  and  on. 

Beech  and  Hancock.  Tunstall,  circa  1845. 

Ralph  Salt.  Hanley  1830-1840.  Staffordshire. 

Figures  and  groups. 


98 


X.  BUSTS  AND  FIGURES  WITH 
LUSTROUS  GLAZE 

Staffordshire  copies  fashion  from  Chelsea,  &c.  : 
Marked  wares  : Glazes  used  : Resist  effects  : 
Allied  decorations  : Silvered  examples  not  rare  : 
Skene  collection.  Bust  of  Minerva  : Lions  : 
Rare  model  of  cat.  Busts  with  copper  effects  : 
Figures  with  coppzr  effects 

IT  is  desirable  briefly  to  refer  to  the  origin  of  figure- 
making in  English  pottery.  It  was  doubtless  first 
suggested  to  the  porcelain  factories,  Bow,  Chelsea, 
Derby,  &c.,  by  examples  from  continental  sources. 
In  earlier  days,  however,  there  are  a few  examples  of 
original  English  work,  notably  the  figures  produced 
by  Dwight  and  others. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  COPIES  FASHION  FROM 
CHELSEA,  ETC. 

Influenced  by  the  beautiful  porcelain  specimens 
produced  at  Chelsea  and  Derby,  &c.,  the  Staffordshire 
makers,  always  ready  to  copy  ideas,  turned  their  attention 
to  the  production  of  pottery  figures.  There  is  no  doubt 
whatever  that  they  copied  the  Chelsea  models,  but  they 
also  introduced  many  new  ones,  less  classical  but  more 
absolutely  English  in  conception,  and  these  latter  pieces 

99 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

were  probably  much  more  popular  with  yeomen  and 
peasants,  appealing  as  they  did  to  the  simple  home-life 
of  rural  England  : there  was  less  of  the  court  gallantry 
associated  with  the  early  Dresden  productions,  which 
found  ready  echo  in  the  Chelsea  porcelains. 

MARKED  WARES 

The  earlier  Staffordshire  products  are  often  classical 
and  Scriptural.  Those  decorated  with  ordinary  pig- 
ments are  sometimes  marked  with  the  name  of  the 
potter,  and  afford  an  approximate  date.  There  are  also 
examples  on  which  silver  lustre  appears  as  a minor 
decoration  ; therefore  when  unmarked  examples  are 
discovered  from  similar  moulds  totally  covered  with 
the  silver  glaze  (which  so  often  destroys  the  name 
impressed  in  the  paste)  the  historian  is  in  a great  measure 
justified  in  attributing  such  wares  to  the  potter  who 
made  the  marked  but  non-lustrous  specimens. 

GLAZES  USED 

So  far  as  can  be  determined  the  “ silver  ” lustre 
appears  to  have  been  first  of  all  used  extensively  in 
connexion  with  figures.  Probably  the  earliest  are 
those  slightly  decorated  with  silver  lustre  m addition 
to  other  coloured  pigments,  and  those  wholly  dipped 
in  the  silver  glaze  may  be  slightly  later.  We  have 
seen  how  at  Swansea  when  the  works  were  called  the 
“ Cambrian  Potteries  ” a piece  of  ware  marked 
“ Cambrian  ” was  merely  banded  with  silver  lustre, 
and  many  collectors  regard  this  method  as  typical  of 
the  earliest  practice.  There  are,  however,  busts  totally 
100 


BUSTS  AND  FIGURES 

covered  with  copper  lustre  which  are  undoubtedly  old  ; 
in  addition  to  which,  many  figures  with  traces  of  lilac 
or  purple  lustre  on  white  or  cream  grounds  allied  with 
other  coloured  pigments  are  known.  The  majority 
of  these  can  with  little  reservation  be  attributed  to 
Staffordshire  or  Sunderland. 

RESIST  EFFECTS 
ALLIED  DECORATION 

We  know  Wedgwood  produced  resist  lustres,  yet 
there  appears  to  be  no  evidence  of  resist  decora- 
tion on  his  figures.  This  may  be  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  modelling  being  m relief  it  did  not  present 
a suitable  surface  for  resist  work  : certainly  not 
because  the  potters  were  content  to  merely  Imitate 
a metal  figure  m its  simplicity,  as  they  issued  resist 
silver  cups  and  saucers,  a variety  which  has  never  been 
associated  with  the  art  of  the  silversmith.  In  connexion 
with  the  whole  history  of  lustred  wares  there  is  a pro- 
fusion of  allied  decorative  treatment,  yet,  beyond  the 
earlier  examples  of  white  or  cream  wares  touched  with 
silver  or  weak  copper,  the  silvered  ones  m their  own 
class  occur  without  allied  decorative  treatment,  with 
very  few  exceptions  such  as  those  which  were  m the 
Skene  collection  to  which  brief  reference  will  be  found 
on  page  103. 

Can  it  be  that  most  of  the  figures  were  issued  before 
resist  silver  wares  had  become  popular  ? 

SILVERED  EXAMPLES  NOT  RARE 

Figures  covered  with  a silver  glaze  are,  if  not  plentiful, 
not  rare.  The  first  traces  of  silver  effects  occur  on 

101 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

examples  usually  attributed  to  Enoch  Wood  and  the 
firm  associated  with  his  name.  He  set  up  in  business 
at  Burslem  in  1 783,  and  in  1 790  entered  into  partnership 
with  James  Caldwell,  in  the  well-known  firm  of  Wood 
and  Caldwell.  There  exists  a very  fine  bust  of  a 
child,  modelled  by  E.  Wood,  on  a pedestal  of  silver 
lustre. 

A choice  pair  of  silver  lustre  figures  representing 
“ Females  seated  reading,”  by  Wood  and  Caldwell,  are 
Illustrated  at  page  431  of  Mr.  Arthur  Hayden’s  ‘‘  Chats 
on  English  Earthenware,”  from  Mr.  W.  G.  Honey’s 
collection,  Cork. 

In  the  Norman  collection,  dispersed  m London 
February  1912,  there  were  the  following  silver  lustre 
figures  : 

Female  figure  of  “ Peace  ” by  Wedgwood 
and  Bentley  14m.  high. 

Well  modelled  bust  of  Shakespeare  13  in.  high. 

Well  modelled  bust  of  Shakespeare  16  in.  high. 

In  the  British  Museum  we  have  a figure  of  a mounted 
Hussar  with  uplifted  sword  under  a lustrous  glaze, 
which  has  been  attributed  to  Wilson. 

Examples  of  the  Wood  and  Caldwell  figure  of 
‘‘  Britannia,”  decorated  with  silver  lustre  on  the  helmet 
and  shield,  are  well  known,  and  at  least  one  example 
was  marked  by  the  firm. 

Ralph  Salt,  of  Hanley,  whose  name  is  often  found 
on  ordinary  Staffordshire  wares,  is  known  to  have 
made  figures  covered  with  silver  lustre,  circa  1830- 
1840. 

102 


BUSTS  AND  FIGURES 
SKENE  COLLECTION 

In  Messrs.  Lawrence  and  Lawlor’s  article  in  the 
Connoisseur  for  May  and  July  1904,  an  account  will 
be  found  of  a variety  of  silver  lustre  figures  which 
had  been  obtained  from  the  descendants  of  the  actual 
manufacturers,  by  the  Rev.  G.  Skene.  The  articles 
referred  to  are  excellent,  condensed  in  detail,  and 
splendidly  illustrated,  and 
should  be  procured.  It  was 
stated  some  time  ago  that 
the  Skene  collection  had 
been  dispersed. 

BUST  OF  MINERVA 

For  our  own  illustrations, 
we  have  preferred  to  show 
(Fig-  45)  an  exceptionally  fine 
bust  of  Minerva  from  the  col- 
lection of  Dr.  Harper. 

LIONS 
CAT 

In  addition  to  the  human 
figure  as  the  subject,  we 
meet  occasionally  representations  of  lions.  The  king; 
of  animals  was  often  copied  in  Staffordshire,  but  lustred 
varieties  with  a silver  glaze  are  attributed  to  David 
Wilson.  Wedgwood  probably  also  made  examples. 
These  are  usually  heavy  sideboard  pieces.  There  must 
also  have  been  representations  of  domestic  animals 

103 


COLLECTING  OLD  LUSTRE  WARE 

treated  with  lustre  glaze,  as  we  have  the  print  of  a 
cat  from  Dr.  Harper’s  collection.  It  reminds  us 
of  the  early  solid  agate  and  salt-glazed  models  of  the 
same  animal,  but  so  far  as  lustre  is  concerned  it  is  a 
most  unusual  example.  These  pieces  are  seldom 
marked  and  there  is  the  greatest  difficulty  in  assigning 
them  to  any  particular  pottery. 

BUSTS  IN  COPPER  LUSTRE 

The  number  of  “ copper  ’’  figures  or  busts  of  lustred 
pottery  is  exceptionally  limited,  and  it  has  to  be  con- 
fessed that  unless  the  copper  figures  have  all  been 
collected,  the  only  conclusion  to  be  arrived  at  is  that  they 
were  not  numerously  made. 

It  may  be  that  the  silver  glaze  was  more  popular  at 
the  time  that  “ figures  ” and  allied  modelling  generally 
were  in  demand,  or  that  the  firms  who  issued  the  figures 
to  the  greatest  extent  had  not  started  to  use  copper 
glazes.  There  was  considerable  expense  in  connexion 
with  figures,  and  assuming  that  the  silvered  wares  are 
earlier,  then  when  coppered  wares  came  into  fashion  at 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  potters 
may  have  learnt  discretion,  and  did  not  attempt  to 
produce  figures  treated  with  deep  copper  glaze.  Other 
novelties  may  have  sprung  into  favour  then.  In 
the  Hanley  Museum  there  is  a very  fine  bust  of 
George  Whitfield,  beautifully  modelled  and  lustred  to 
give  a “ bronze  ” appearance.  The  bust  of  a female 
in  copper  lustre  was  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  W.  G. 
Honey  of  Cork,  and  it  is  illustrated  on  page  223  of 
Mr.  A.  Hayden’s  “ Chats  on  English  China.” 

104 


BUSTS  AND  FIGURES 

Another  bust  in  copper  lustre  was  exposed  for  sale 
some  five  or  six  years  ago.  It  was  about  sixteen  inches 
high,  and  remind  the  writer  of  a much  earlier  stoneware 
bust  of  James  II,  which  is  attributed  to  Dwight.  This 
example  did  not  carry  a very  brilliant  glaze. 

FIGURES  IN  COPPER 

One  or  two  smaller  figures  treated  with  full  copper 
glaze  have  been  heard  of,  but  reliable  details  are  difficult 
to  procure.  We  think  it  must  be  accepted  that  the 
manufacture  of  old  copper  lustre  figures,  on  the  lines 
of  the  silvered  examples,  was  not  extensive,  and  collectors 
who  possess  them  with  a dark  ground  fully  dipped  m 
a brilliant  copper  glaze  must  regard  themselves  as  ex- 
ceptionally fortunate. 

The  beginner  should  be  on  his  guard  against  the 
modern  model  of  a Staffordshire  Toby  in  lustre  : we 
have  never  met  a genuine  old  example. 


1C5 


XI.  ENGLISH  PORCELAINS 

DECORATED  WITH  LUSTROUS 
EFFECTS 

Staffordshire  and  Swansea  : Gold  or  pink 
lustre  : Strawberry  pattern  : Resist  style  : 
Sprig  designs  : Stone  china  and  lustre  : Land- 
scape in  gold  lustre  : Worcester  and  Derby  : 
Victorian. 

AT  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
\ formula  for  making  porcelain  was  common, 
and  Staffordshire  took  up  its  production  very 
extensively. 

STAFFORDSHIRE  AND  SWANSEA 

It  is  from  Staffordshire  and  Swansea  that  we  get 
many  quaint  tea-sets  decorated  with  lustre  patterns, 
the  designs  produced  being  quite  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  present  volume  intended  chiefly  to  deal  with 
lustred  wares,  and  not  with  china  decorations. 

The  patterns  were  generally  set  ones,  in  the  case  of 
the  saucer  of  a tea-set  a blank  space  was  left  where  the 
cup  stands,  the  lustre  being  arranged  in  pattern  on 
the  border. 

106 


ENGLISH  PORCELAINS 


GOLD  OR  PINK  LUSTRE 

Sometimes  the  pieces  were  merely  edged  with  copper 
or  silver  lustre,  the  additional  work  being  transfer 
prints  or  rough  floral  designs.  Many  fine  porcelain  sets 
were  produced,  and  probably  a lot  of  marked  specimens 
are  in  existence.  The  brilliant  finish  of  some  examples 
treated  with  a pure  solution  of  copper  doubtless  gave 
rise  to  the  terms  “ gold  ” or  “ pink  ” lustre. 

STRAWBERRY  PATTERN 

The  strawberry  pattern  Is  a well-known  rendering 
of  lustre  decoration  on  china, — it  was  appreciated, 
and  therefore  extensively  produced.  The  design  is 
often  attributed  to  Dillwyn  who  had  charge  of  the 
Swansea  factory  ; marked  examples  touched  with  lustre 
are  in  existence.  One  hint  can  be  given,  viz.  : the 
more  extensively  the  article  is  treated  with  lustre  (with 
a fair  degree  of  accuracy  in  outline)  the  more  desirable 
it  IS.  The  ground  associated  with  the  strawberry 
pattern  m some  cases  nearly  covers  the  side  of  the  cup 
and  most  of  the  saucer,  though  some  designs  present 
only  a narrow  band. 

RESIST  STYLE 

In  the  most  elaborate  porcelains  clean  geometrical 
outlines  are  reserved  in  white  on  a wide  pink  border, 
absolutely  identical  with  much  resist  silver  work,  and  our 
very  satisfactory  print  of  a stoneware  plate.  Fig.  46,  excels 
the  majority  of  the  porcelain  examples. 

These  resist  borders  are  often  a little  crude  m finish. 

107 


COLL.ECTINGOLD  LUSTREWARE 

There  should  be  no  difficulty  in  finding  porcelain 
examples. 

SPRIG  DESIGNS 

Other  early  specimens  carry  sprig  designs  in  silver 
lustre,  relieved  by  red  floral  markings  or  sprays.  These 
are  less  common  than  the  pink  lustre. 

The  merely  banded  porcelains,  both  with  silver  and 
copper,  were  issued  extensively,  and  are,  we  think,  the 

least  desirable,  unless 
associated  with  his- 
torical prints,  &c. 

STONE  CHINA  AND 
LUSTRE 

Porcellaneous  stone- 
wares are  found 
treated  with  lustrous 
effects  and  a semi- 
translucent  toy  jug, 
cream  ware,  high  glaze 
with  figures  in  relief  can  be  mentioned  which  is 
banded  with  rich  copper  lustre  edged  with  red.  It 
was  probably  made  by  Spode.  It  is  only  two  inches 
high. 

LANDSCAPES  IN  GOLD  LUSTRE 

A very  large  number  of  sets  of  china  were  issued, 
chiefly  from  Staffordshire,  decorated  with  crude  land- 
scapes in  pink  or  gold  lustre,  painted  on  a white 
ground  with  the  “ Lowestoft  ” landscape.  These 
108 


ENGLISH  PORCELAINS 

decorations  are  usually  mere  daubs.  The  lustre  pig- 
ment used  was  excellent,  however,  and  it  must  be  often 
a source  of  regret  that  the  glaze  has  to  be  excluded 
from  the  collector’s  shelf  because  of  the  slovenly  decora- 
tion. 

Jugs  of  pottery  body  with  white  ground  are  often 
met,  decorated  in  the  same  manner.  Lakm  and  Poole 
produced  such  wares.  We  have  seen  Staffordshire  or 
Swansea  porcelains  carefully  finished,  described  as 
“ Brislington  gold  lustre.”  This  appears  to  be  quite 
erroneous. 

WORCESTER  AND  DERBY 

The  use  of  lustre  was  not  unknown  at  the  leading 
English  porcelain  factories,  and  both  the  silver  and  copper 
glazes  appear  to  have  been  experimented  with  and  issued 
to  some  extent.  Silver  lustre  has  been  found  on  Old 
Derby  porcelain,  and  bronze  decorations  were  used 
m connexion  with  important  pieces  at  Worcester, 
during  the  Flight  and  Barr  period. 

VICTORIAN 

In  conclusion  the  reader  will  hardly  need  to  be 
reminded  of  the  Victorian  cottage  sets  of  china  with 
purple  prints,  edged  and  to  an  extent  patterned  with 
lustre.  One  set  represents  the  late  Queen  Victoria 
and  the  Prince  Consort  : another  shows  the  late  King 
Edward  as  a youth  flying  kites  at  Windsor. 


109 


INDEX 

Alsop,  near  Buxton,  36 
American  subjects,  36 
Apricot  ground,  39,  65 

Bands,  coloured,  38 
resist,  70 
Basalts,  11,12 
Beading,  53 

Binns  (Old  Worcester),  45 
Bird  decoration,  50,  69 
handles,  27,  58 
Birds  in  ceramics,  27,  51 
Blackberry  lustre,  45 
Black  prints,  69 
Blacker,  J.  F.,  67 
Blue  grounds,  39,  65 
Blue  printed  wares,  39 
Boat  shapes,  42,  58 
Brislington,  81-85,  109 
Bristol,  81-87 
Britannia,  102 
Bronze-gold  lustre,  43 
Brush-work,  49 
Buff  grounds,  39,  64 
Busts,  99,  103,  104 

Cambrian  Potteries,  87,  88 
Canary  grounds,  39,  64 
Castleford  wares,  93 
Cat  model,  103 

Chinese  influence,  35,  62,  66,  67 
Classic  reliefs,  16,  28,  29 
Coalport  mark,  98 
Coloured  grounds,  39 
Composition,  1 

Connoisseur,  67,  70,  91,  92  | 

no 


Copper,  glazed  figures,  104,  105 
Cornwallis  jug,  36 
Cottage  Swansea,  34,  90 
Cream  relief,  56 
Crossed  arrows,  76 

Dates  of  introduction,  41 
Decorators’  marks,  97,  98 
Deer,  3 1 , 68 
Derby,  89,  109 
Diamond  pattern,  57 
Dillwyn,  88,  89,  107 
Dinah,  75 

Discovery  in  Staffordshire,  3 

Dogs,  31 

Don  Pottery,  93 

Duke  of  Clarence  china,  45 

Duncan,  Cardiff,  88 

Eagle  handle,  27 
Eliza  figures,  86 
English  gilding,  60 
Etruria,  Wedgwood,  4 
Excavations,  Bristol,  84 

Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  45 
Farm  subjects,  68 
Females  reading,  102 
Figures,  101 

decoration,  62 
Forgeries,  69 
Frog  model,  94 

General  Pike,  36 
Gold  lustre,  15,  19 
resist,  60,  70 


INDEX 


Gold  stencilled,  71,  72 
Granite  ground,  39 
Green  grounds,  39 
John  (Leeds),  93 
Ground  shades  with  resist,  64,  65 
Gubblo  School,  2,  1 1 

Hancock,  frontispiece,  3,  80 
Hand  finished,  19 
Harper,  Dr.,  collection,  17,  46, 
50,  56,  65,  68,  69,  71,  74,  78, 
103 

Hayden,  87,  102,  104 
Herculaneum  pottery,  91 
Hill,  E.  and  T.,  Top  Longdon, 
78 

HIspano  Mauro  wares,  2,  88 
Horizontal  ribbing,  33,  55 
Horses,  31 

Hunting  subjects,  29,  68 

Italian  lustre,  2 

Jackfield  glaze,  83 
Jasper  blues,  41 
Johnston,  Bristol,  87 

Kidson,  Leeds,  66,  93 

Lakin  and  Poole,  109 
Lancastrian  lustre,  42 
Lawrence  and  Lawlor,  1 03 
Leeds  ring,  28 
Lilac  lustre,  44,  45 
resist,  73 
Linings,  ruby,  53 
gold,  54,  55 
silver,  55 
Lions,  76,  103 
Liverpool  lustre,  91 
London  Opinion,  67 
Low'estoft  decoration,  38,  86,  108 

Maize  ground,  51 
Manganese,  54 
Marbled  style,  48 
Mariners’  ArmS:  48 


Marks,  95-98,  100 
Masked  jugs,  17,  69 
Masonic  emblems,  79 
Mayer,  16 
Minerva  (bust),  103 
Modern  work,  42,  59 
Morland  prints,  62,  67,  68,  78 
Mottled  effects,  46 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  94 
Norman  collection,  92 

Old  Leeds,  66,  75,  76,  92 
lustre,  9 

Orange  and  silver,  77 
Association  jug,  35 
Origin  of  lustre,  2 
Other  work  with  resist,  68 
Overglaze  decoration,  12,  13  34 

Painted  lustre,  49 
Panels,  18,  68 

birds  in  colours,  79 
Pelured  lustre,  53 
Pencilled  outlines,  35 
Persian  lustre,  2 
Pink  grounds,  39,  65 
lustre,  43,  47 
Planed  surfaces,  1 1 
Porcelains,  1 06-9 
marked,  89 
Pountney,  Bristol,  82 
Purple  lustre,  43-44,  46 

Queen  Anne  style,  79,  80 
Queen’s  ware,  1 1 , 26 

Raised  floral  work,  22 
Reddish  body,  21 
Relief  patterns,  63 
Resist  bird,  62 

dated  pieces,  65,  78,  79 
lustre,  7,  60-80 
two  shades,  73 
Ring,  Bristol,  82 
Robinson,  Eliz.  Beeston,  75 

111 


INDEX 


Ruby  lining,  53 
lustre,  9 

Salt,  Hanley,  102 
Sanded  ground,  39 
Seasons,  figures  of,  28 
Self  grounds,  8 
Shakespeare  bust,  102 
Shaw,  historian,  3 
Sldebottom,  Mary,  78 
Silver  lustre,  55 
Silversmiths’  moulds,  55 
Silver  resist,  61,  73-80 
Skene  collection,  103 
Spain,  Hispano  Mauro,  2 
Spode  decoration,  23,  90,  108 
Spotted  dogs,  30 
Spray  on  body  glaze,  31 
Sprig  designs,  108 
Staffordshire  roses,  32 
Steel  lustre,  55 
Stencilling,  7,  63 
with  silver,  64 
Stone  china,  108 
Strawberry  pattern,  22-3,  106-7 
Striped  lustre,  38 
Sub-oxide,  1 1 , 27 
“ Success  to  Commerce,”  48 
Sunderland  wares,  47-49,  94 
Swansea,  15,21,87-91 
Cottage,  90,  91 

Teapots,  37,  58 
Thick  wares,  25 
Thin  wares,  25 
Three-part  work,  32 
Tinted  scenes,  69 
Time,  verse,  49 
Toby  model,  105 
Torto.se-shell,  39 
Transfer  patterns,  66-67 


Trial  pot,  Hancock, /ronfjspiece 
Turner,  66 

Turquoise  ornament,  33 

Undercutting,  18 
Underglaze  blue,  67,  70 
with  resist,  77 

Varieties  of  lustre,  4-5 
Vertical,  facets,  18 
fluting,  54 
ribbing,  32 

Victorian  pottery,  45,  109 
Vine  pattern,  62,  88 

Ward  collection,  67,  76 
Watteau  prints,  80 
Wedgwood  group,  15 
and  Bentley,  102 
Josiah,  3,  4,  9,  10,  46 
101-3 

mask,  17 
Thomas,  87 
Welsh  costumes,  90-1 
White,  Bristol,  83 
grounds,  64 
inings,  17-18 
William  111,35 
Willow  pattern,  67 
Wilson,  gold,  44,  61 

school,  19,  20,44,  102,  103 
silver,  56,  58 
Wood,  Enoch,  13,  102 

and  Caldwell,  14,  30,  37, 

102 

Worcester  factory,  109 
prints,  68 

Wreath  under  lustre,  31 
Yorkshire,  93 


Ballantyne  Press,  London 


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r.FTTV  r.FNTER  LIBRARY 


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